The pharmaceutical industry must be willing to constantly renovate itself to face a market full of challenges, especially in Mexico. Among them are patent expiration, the rise of generics, reforms of sanitary regulation, and austerity measures. While generic producers are facing an unprecedented boom, international pharmaceuticals whose main products are innovative medicines may feel in a vulnerable position. A solution is to form alliances between these two sectors and be willing to undertake groundbreaking measures to stay on top of the market. Under this picture of uncertainty and anticipation the Mexican Pharmaceutical Association presented Expofarma 2015 from 15 to 17 April 2015 in the World Trade Center in Mexico City, an exposition to introduce to the Mexican market and the main businesses in the sector the latest technologies for the production of medicines and a space to generate new business ideas and alliances.
Expofarma is a business forum that every year brings together more than 8,000 professionals from many industries including pharmaceutical, cosmetic, chemical, medical devices, and clinical analysis. This year, the exposition celebrated its 42 anniversary. With more than 160 expositors including almost every single area of interest for producers of medicines and medical devices, from APIs to distributors, Expofarma provided excellent resources for pharmaceuticals of any size. As the exposition reports most of its visitors come from the pharmaceutical industry, but they also receive interested parties from universities, chemical industries, and cosmetic industries. Most of the visitors attend with the intention of updating themselves on the newest technologies available, and many already have commercial interest to acquire new products or to establish new commercial relationships. The main products of interest to visitors are laboratory and analytical equipment, reactants, and packing materials. Expofarma 2015 also provided a platform for launching new technologies including software, analytical and packaging equipment, and chemical products. Altogether Expofarma provided a great opportunity for pharmaceutical companies to sell and acquire the newest technologies and an excellent environment to conduct new business models.
The exposition also featured several conferences intended to paint a clear image of the current Mexican market and to update attendees on the newest technologies. The Wednesday cycle of conferences began with a presentation by Mike Chance-Ortiz from Thomson Reuters de Mexico on perspectives of the Mexican pharmaceutical industry and its potential for growth. Chance-Ortiz examined the growth of Mexican pharmaceutical industries in comparison to other countries and determined areas for improvement. Marcus Schütte from Sartorius de Mexico spoke about sterility tests, a key procedure in quality control for pharmaceutical industries. On Wednesday there were also conferences by Saúl Estrada Illescas and Erick Sabido Ruiz from Sartorius de Mexico, Mario Acevedo Pérez from Sefar de Mexico, Hugo Enrique López Nieto form Pepperl + Fuchs Mexico, Elizabeth Rivera from Cytnis, and Pat Brumfield from Sigma Aldrich.
On Thursday afternoon there was a conference from Daniel Stagnaro from Klöckner Pentaplast de Mexico on the design and development of blister type packaging. Carlos Guillermo Mendoza Elizondo from Tenocontrol y Sistemas spoke of prevention strategies to avoid cross contamination. Israel Aguilar Carmona from Laboratorios de Especialidades Inmunológicas gave a conference on quality control for medical devices. A team from Pharma Insumos comprised of Anel García García, Yoshito Mitani Nakanishi, and Noemi Ponce de León, gave a conference on the importance of utilizing Certified Reference Materials (MRC) in the pharmaceutical industry. There were also conferences by Samuel Vélez from Instrumentación y Servicio en Analítica, Francisco Escorcia Rodríguez from DVA, Jorge Pérez Maldonado from Fluke Calibration, Verónica Gameros García and Luis Bautista Reséndiz from TESIS, and Michael Anthony Dixon from Croda Mexico.
On Friday, Antonio Hernández Cardoso from PROQUIFA spoke on applications of Ultra High Performance Liquid Chromatography (UHPLC) for the pharmaceutical industry. Marcos Laureano Solís Leyva and Jhonatan Martínez Jaimes from Pharma Insumos gave a conference on the importance of monitoring pharmaceutical impurities to ensure the high quality of medicines. There were other conferences from Gina Suarez Aguirre from Labtech Instrumentation, Adolfo Pérez Díaz from Agilent Technologies, Delene Strunge from PROQUIFA, Valdemir Passos from DVA, and Alejandro Torrez Lazarín from Instrumentación Avanzada, and Enrique Meneses from Donaldson.
On an interview with Mexico Health Review, Dr. Dea Herrera from ANAFAM stated that this association is comprised of volunteer unpaid members who invest their time to promote the exchange of knowledge and technology in many different platforms, including Expofarma. Dr. Herrera also highlighted the importance of bringing these activities towards students and the academia in order to bring them closer to the health industry. In her words “the purpose of this exchange is to discuss where we are and where do we want to be in 20 years.” The association wants to bring new technologies and techniques to Mexico but it is also conscious of the importance of maintaining a good regulatory system to ensure quality and protect patients. The association’s goal is to bring people from the industry and academia together to share their knowledge and propose new solutions.
The Mexican Pharmaceutical Association wants to bring together the many faces of the pharmaceutical industry to create communication channels for the development of the sector. Expofarma 2015 was also open to students and the general public to promote the sector and create a strong area for future professionals. This exposition was a great success as it gave thousands of participants an opportunity to know innovative technologies and to generate new businesses, essential elements for industry growth.
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