DRUGMAKERS PRAISE MEXICAN MARKET'S CHARMS

Foreign investment in Mexico's drug sector should continue to rise, as sales start to pick up the pace and the country improves its intellectual property and pricing environment. Local media sources report that Eli Lilly CEO Sidney Taurel has commented positively on the drug industry's potential in Mexico. Meeting with Mexican President Vicente Fox, Taurel affirmed the company's long-term commitment to Mexico and the local R&D sector.

Mexico has recently strengthened intellectual property laws, and it is reported that the country's price caps on pharmaceuticals could also be relaxed. Meanwhile, new rules on drug registrations and the implementation of five-year data exclusivity has prompted national regulator COFEPRIS to estimate that all pharmaceutical products in Mexico will have proven bioequivalence by early 2010.

Aside from Mexico's rapid development as an export base for multinationals, generics firms have also welcomed the more level playing field the intellectual property reforms now offer. US-Mexican generics market leader Quifa-Perrigo is to invest US$6.5mn by 2007 on registering 120 new products. The company -- which operates a production facility in Ramos Arizpe, Coahuila state -- currently offers 112 products, but growth opportunities have previously been constrained by the tiny market share of legitimate generics in Mexico, estimated at just 5%.