Multinational pharmaceutical companies announce $600 million investment in Mexico
Multinational pharmaceutical companies AstraZeneca, Bayer and Boehringer Ingelheim, in addition to the Mexican laboratory Carnot, announced, this Thursday (7), investments in Mexico totaling 600 million dollars (3.28 billion reais).
These investments join those already announced in recent months by companies such as brewer Heineken, retailer Walmart and Netflix, amid Mexico's trade tensions with the government of US President Donald Trump.
The pharmaceutical sector is "a high priority for the president (Claudia Sheinbaum), mainly because of its impact on the world" and on the health of Mexicans, said Economy Secretary Marcelo Ebrard, when announcing the investments with company directors.
The disbursements of these four companies are focused "on expanding their productive and technological capacity and exporting," explained Health Secretary David Kershenobich at Sheinbaum's usual morning press conference.
Germany's Bayer will allocate around $160 million (R$876 million) over the next five years to increasing its production of active ingredients, said its director for Mexico, Manuel Bravo.
Boehringer Ingelheim will invest US$187 million (R$1.02 billion) over the next few years to transform its tablet production plant in Xochimilco, south of Mexico City, into the “largest in the world,” said its director for Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean, Augusto Muench.
British pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca will expand its innovation and technology center in the country, as well as its manufacturing facilities that produce medications for type 2 diabetes and chronic kidney disease. With an investment of $120.7 million (R$661 million) through 2026, it will increase its clinical research activities, added its local president, Julio Ordaz.
The director of the Mexican laboratory Carnot, Edmundo Jiménez, announced the construction of a new factory in the central state of Hidalgo, worth 187 million dollars (1.02 billion reais), in five years.
The pharmaceutical industry is under pressure from Donald Trump, who is demanding price reductions and threatening to impose progressive tariffs of up to 250% on imports from this sector.
ai/yug/mel/jc/mvv
IstoÉ
