Mexico City, Mexico — As part of Plan Mexico, President Claudia Sheinbaum announced that a decree will be published in the Official Gazette of the Federation (DOF). The new decree will be to encourage international pharmaceutical companies to invest in projects for the production of medicines and medical supplies in Mexico next year.
The goal, she says, is to position Mexico as a leader in the pharmaceutical industry.
“We want this purchasing power, necessary to serve the people of Mexico, to help us attract companies from India, the United States, various parts of Europe, Latin America, Brazil, and elsewhere to come and invest in Mexico to produce medicines here.
“This will make them even more affordable. It will also create jobs and allow them to collaborate with research institutes to develop medicines for diseases in Mexico that are characteristic of tropical areas, such as dengue,” she explained Thursday.
Sheinbaum said the objective is for international pharmaceutical companies’ investments to be primarily focused on the Economic Development Poles for Well-being (PODECOBI), and to also connect with the Biological and Reagent Laboratories of Mexico (Birmex), so that this public company can recover the production capacity it lost during the neoliberal period.
“We want all of this to be linked to Birmex, the company that historically manufactured vaccines for the Mexican people and that practically disappeared during the neoliberal period, and which has many facilities with capacity.
“So what will be published is so that for the 2026 purchase, which will be for 2027 and 2028, qualification points will be awarded to all those who will participate in the bidding, acquisitions and invitations to have plants installed in Mexico. That is the objective,” she explained.
She said with this, companies investing in Mexico will have a greater chance of winning the bids held in 2026, assuming they meet quality requirements, obtain the necessary permits from the Federal Commission for the Protection against Sanitary Risks (Cofepris), promote development and research and offer prices that save resources.
Health Secretary David Kershenobich Stalnikowitz explained that the plan includes the installation of bioincubators for the pharmaceutical industry to make Mexico a leader in the production of medicines, medical devices, and vaccines through innovation, talent development, the development of the chemical industry, biomedical engineering, and the promotion of intellectual property.
The Undersecretary of Integration and Development of the Health Sector, Eduardo Clark García Dobarganes, said that the decree will encourage investment in Mexico through the consolidated purchase of medicines and medical supplies, to which the Government allocates approximately 300 billion pesos every two years.
“In the case of off-patent medicines, points will be awarded to those who demonstrate investments in Mexico through supply chain plants, the installation of factories, laboratories, warehouses, as well as for the development of innovative products.
“This will give significant preference to companies that choose to establish themselves in Mexico. Meanwhile, in the case of patented and single-source medicines, an investment commitment will be linked to the purchase amount in the negotiations. This will ensure that pharmaceutical companies have a productive presence in the country. To this end, a Pharmaceutical Investment Promotion Commission will be created,” he said.
The head of Cofepris, Armida Zúñiga Estrada, highlighted that the regulatory agency under her charge is transforming to become more agile, transparent, and internationally harmonized.
To this end, they are working to simplify and digitize 100 percent of procedures with the support of the Digital Transformation and Telecommunications Agency (ATDT), and to date, 60 percent of the process has been completed.
Turnaround times for clinical research are being reduced, the DIGIPRiS platform for clinical trials is being modernized, the Regulatory Framework for Medicines and Medical Devices is being updated and a strategic collaboration is being established with the Mexican Institute of Industrial Property (IMPI) to streamline patent and health registration.
