Mexico's well-recognised drug approval standard among Latin American countries should encourage multinationals to launch more products in the country and pave the way for an integrated pharmaceutical market among Pacific Alliance member states, according to a new report by Business Monitor.
The report, Mexico Pharmaceuticals and Healthcare, foresees multinationals and Mexican drugmakers enjoying faster access to markets in the Pacific Alliance (Mexico, Chile, Peru, Colombia), and local consumers having higher quality and potentially lower priced medicines immediately available to them.
Mexico scores 60.6 in BMI's Pharmaceutical and Healthcare Risk/Reward Rating (RRR), making it the fifth-most attractive pharmaceutical market in America.
Business Monitor says the attractiveness of Mexico has been boosted in the past year by a number of events.
In June, Mexico's Federal Commission for the Protection against Sanitary Risk (COFEPRIS), a decentralised organ of the Department of Health, signed an agreement with the Pacific Alliance, which was formed in June 2012 to allow the free circulation of goods, services, capital and persons among its member states. In the last 18 months, COFEPRIS has approved almost 16,000 health products.
In May, Mexico's Coca-Cola FEMSA, which is majority owned by beer and soft drinks multinational FEMSA, acquired Farmacias FM Moderna, a leading pharmaceutical retailer in Sinaloa. This followed the acquisition of a 75% stake in Mexican pharmacy chain Farmacias YZA in November 2012, as FEMSA advances in its strategy to open up a new avenue for growth in Mexico's retail pharmacy sector.
In April, COFEPRIS' Federal Commissioner Andoni Mikel Arriola Peñalosa stated that the organisation had confiscated 135 tons of illegal drugs to date in 2013.
However, Business Monitor maintains its view that Mexico is facing a moderate economic slowdown, so that after strong GDP growth of 3.9% in 2012, it forecasts a lower 3.6% expansion in 2013.
This deceleration is being driven largely by weaker US demand for Mexico's manufactured goods and more sluggish private consumption, but Business Monitor expects to see an upturn in economic activity over the second half of the year.
The research organisation also forecasts that Mexico's president, Enrique Peña Nieto, will be able to push through a number of important economic reforms over the coming months.