The well-established, solid and mature pharmaceutical industry, like the one we have in our country, is an agent that generates important benefits that goes beyond collaborating with doctors to care for, protect and restore people’s health, by increasing their quality and life expectancy. “Contribution to health”, in which the contributions made by the innovative pharmaceutical industry in Mexico are presented, both quantitatively and qualitatively, specifically those represented by the Mexican Association of Pharmaceutical Research Industries.
The health innovation industry in Mexico constitutes a solid employment platform that integrates qualified personnel, offers competitive remuneration and observes gender equity above the national average. In the companies belonging to the AMIIF, 51% of the employees are men and 49% are women, a much more equitable distribution than that of the total employed population in Mexico in 2020, in which men occupy 61%, while Women make up the remaining 39%. The pharmaceutical industry in Mexico has grown steadily above the national economy, mainly satisfying the most relevant ailments of the Mexican epidemiological transition. In contrast, foreign direct investment in Mexico had a decrease of 4.9% during the same period, while that of the manufacturing sector had a decrease of 51.3%, and that of financial services of 47.6%.
The value of pharmaceutical exports in Mexico represents 63% of the total exports of the chemical industry, placing it above sectors such as the beverage industry, tobacco and the manufacture of products based on non-metallic minerals. The clinical research protocols carried out in Mexico during 2020 represented a spill of USD 250 million, maintaining a compound annual growth rate of 73% during the last five years. The clinical investigations carried out in the main areas of therapy are aligned with the main causes of death in Mexico.
The pharmaceutical industry contributes to quality education in the country with different initiatives. 60% of the companies have virtual platforms for distance medical education, in which 20,706 hours of training have been generated through 1,714 courses, supporting the training of 430,182 people. The total number of patents belonging to the companies associated with the AMIIF at the end of 2020 was 1,013, which corresponds to 89.8% of the total patents granted in the area of chemistry and metallurgy. 83% of the patents of the members of the AMIIF are in force, while 17% are pending.
The National Compendium of Health Supplies has around 14,000 health records, of which 12% belong to the oncology area, 12% to analgesia, and the subsequent 11% and 11% include infectious and parasitic diseases, endocrinology and metabolism respectively. The pharmaceutical production capacity at the end of 2020 was 5,140 million units.
Social responsibility
AMIIF members donated more than MXN 56.42 million during 2020 in support of COVID institutions and more than MXN 84 million in protective and hospital equipment to help during the pandemic.
Gender equality
Beyond these industry data, the document has an evaluation of the framework in which the sector operates. “According to the Health and Economic Growth study carried out by the IZA Institute of Labor Economics, there is a strong positive correlation between health and the gross domestic product of different countries. This means that there is a bidirectional correlation between health and income. Innovation industry in Mexico.
The economic impact of health
Out-of-pocket spending in Mexico represented 41.4% in 2019 and 42.1% in 2020 of total health spending, and although this figure has decreased over the course of the last decade, it remains one of the highest percentages in the OECD, whose member countries they have an average of 21%, while in the countries of Latin America and the Caribbean it is 34%. In this context, the health system is highly relevant, which requires continuing to meet the challenges of coverage, efficiency, cost-effectiveness and innovation to substantially improve the health levels of the population. However, the health crisis caused a decrease of -8.2% during 2020, according to the quarterly report of the Bank of Mexico. “Innovation in health is positioned as strategic for the country. In the face of the health crisis, not only in Mexico but globally, it is necessary to have IRAIC as an investment method aimed at researching innovation in health to improve processes and quality in health care.
The pharmaceutical industry is the seventh most important activity of the manufacturing industries and has presented a similar growth to the health sector, with a CAGR of 6.68% from 2014 to 2020.» Innovation industry in Mexico. In addition, just as health has been affected, the manufacturing sector also presents economic and industrial declines, which IRAIC could recover these low rates through market strategies that strengthen its economy both from within each company and in the market.
Framework
The burden of disease is the impact of a health problem quantified by cost, mortality, morbidity, and other indicators. The Mobility in Health report states that health services are a preponderant variable in economic inequality and lack of opportunities. In Mexico there is a high persistence of the health condition by stratum of origin, negatively impacting social mobility. The inequality of opportunities would be less and the equalization of results greater, if there were an effective health care system for the group that does not enjoy any coverage up to now, and that does not depend on employment status.
It is essential to consider health as a good investment in IRAIC, an element that would help boost and strengthen the economy. “For health innovation to be sustainable and benefit people, respect for industrial innovation is essential, since only with unrestricted respect for industrial property rights can we continue to promote pharmaceutical innovation.”