Abbott invests $ 20 million in its first research center in the country

American pharmaceutical Abbott will invest $ 20 million to deploy a pharmaceutical development centre in Brazil, the first of the company in the country and the fourth in Latin America, considering other three centers that were incorporated after the purchase of the CFR Pharmaceuticals. The works will begin in August and the investment, which will enable the Abbott develop products adapted to the Brazilian population, will be made in the industrial unit of Jacarepaguá in Rio de Janeiro (RJ).
According to the General Manager of Abbott in Brazil, Juan Carlos Gaona, the decision to install a development center in the country in a difficult time of the macroeconomic point of view is aligned with the long-term strategy of the company. "Brazil is today the sixth largest market of medicines in the world and in the next few years, should move one more position. We are convinced that this is the time to invest more and be more aggressive, "he said.
Without revealing the initial projects that will be developed in the new Center, for strategic reasons, the Executive said that medicines in the areas of Cardiology, Neurology and gastroenterology are in focus of the lab, as well as the so-called solid formulations (tablets and capsules). The expectation is that the first molecule to be developed in the new Center as early as 2016.
The new Centre will comprise a laboratory for development of new molecules and a pilot plant, which will give agility to the transfer process for the production on an industrial scale in the unit itself. According to the Director of pharmaceutical operations in the country, Ana Paula Antunes, initially will open 15 jobs, including researchers.
The three development centers that were already in operation in Latin America are located in Chile, Colombia and Peru in and have joined its portfolio of assets after the Chilean purchase of CRF, completed in September last year, for about $ 2.9 billion. With the deal, the American company entered the Group of the ten largest pharmaceutical Latin America.
Second Gaona, the initial focus of the Center is to strengthen the presence of Abbott in the Brazilian market, although there is the possibility to increase exports to Latin America. Today Abbott exports medicines to 11 countries.