Ana Dolores Román
General Manager, Pfizer Ecuador
R&D activities require large amounts of investment, and in the particular case of Pfizer, the company has several international centers that constantly work on developing more innovative and advanced products for the market. In Ecuador, we distribute such products, and we conduct extensive market research to establish the best products that can successfully impact patients’ lives and, therefore, become a commercial opportunity in the country. In this particular market, products such as antibiotics, cardiovascular medicines, and pain relievers are the most important. We focus on providing high-quality products for these segments in general. Therefore, we do not plan to establish research centers in Ecuador. The Ecuadorean market and the government of the country are strongly pushing toward having more high-quality products on the market. Pfizer’s strategy and mission perfectly fits with this aim for the industry, and it coincides with what is happening in the surrounding region as well.
Luciano Boccardo
Executive President, Laboratorios Siegfried
It was a dream come true when we first came to Ecuador in 2008. Siegfried represented a particular bet for the company, as we had tried to enter this market long ago with little success. The success of the first years encouraged us to keep up the high level of investment, and we are pleased with the results. Today, Ecuador enjoys stable and clear policies, and the pharmaceutical market is very competitive. At the same time, Laboratorios Siegfried has been operating in the industry for over 90 years, and we are experts in the field. In terms of regional percentages, Ecuador represents around 8% of the company’s activities, and we believe we can grow this figure a little more. We have to keep in mind that we cannot compare a market such as the Ecuadorean one, where the overall production of the industry reached $1.1 billion, to other larger markets like Argentina, Brazil, or Mexico.
Héctor EnrÃÂquez C.
General Manager, Héctor EnrÃÂquez C.
In pharmaceutical manufacturing, if you are not continually investing you will fall behind. The regulatory side is becoming more stringent all over the world; therefore, you have to be aware of that and know which trends will be reflected in regulations. You have to be in front of that to be competitive. It means that you need to invest in technology, facilities, and equipment, as well as in people. Pharmaceutical manufacturing is very specialized, each and every unit has to comply with the highest standards, there is no room for mistakes, and you must have complete control of your processes. In 2013, we are going to make a large investment in a new line of large-volume parenterals and a complete line of lyophilized products. Those two are the most important facilities investments for 2013; the new lines will be started up at the beginning of 2014. In addition to that, we are investing in ERP-CRM administrative software. In total, we will be investing around $9 million.
Carlos Cueva González
Executive President, Grupo DIFARE
The Ecuadorean market has had for a long time a control over prices, which limits selling prices. The 2008 Constitution brought a very important change to the pharmaceutical sector, because health is now considered as a strategic sector, meaning that government investment increases every year; for example, health coverage among society has expanded, which means that more people have access to services and medicines than ever before. This also means that the market for the private sector has become smaller, which has led to companies trying to diversify their activities and portfolios, or else trying to become more efficient to grab opportunities within the government’s scope of responsibilities. Additionally, we have to say that in the Ecuadorean pharmaceutical industry the percentage of exports is very small, meaning that imports are high, especially when it comes to multinational companies operating here. Domestic pharmaceutical production only reaches 15% to 20% of the current overall market production. For example, we import from the UAE, Brazil, and Mexico.
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