Factory in Pernambuco will supply SUS with medicine for hemophilia

The new Hemobrás manufacturing unit in Goiana (PE) will produce a medicine for the treatment of type A hemophilia, a disease that currently affects around 12 million people in the country. The production capacity will be 1.2 billion units of the drug recombinant factor VIII (Hemo-8r) per year.

The factory will be inaugurated this Thursday (3), with the presence of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, at the Hemobrás Industrial Complex. According to the Minister of Health, Nísia Trindade, the medicine produced by Hemobrás is expected to reach the Unified Health System (SUS) from September.

“The production will have a huge impact on the lives of people with hemophilia, who suffer a lot due to trauma, hemorrhages and who will now have the guarantee of autonomy in this production through this work by Hemobrás”, explained the minister at a press conference this Wednesday (3).

Hemo-8r is essential for the treatment of hemophilia A, with the expansion of prophylaxis, which is the most effective way to prevent spontaneous bleeding and sequelae in people with coagulopathy.

Before national production of the medicine begins, there will be a qualification process, which involves several phases. “National production will not be made available to the SUS immediately, as it will still have to complete several qualification stages, until Anvisa [Agência Nacional de Vigilância Sanitária] give us the certification and we can actually place national production on the market”, explained the CEO of Hemobrás, Ana Paula Menezes.

Economy

Hemo-8r is already supplied to the SUS by Hemobrás through a Partnership for Productive Development (PDP). The expectation is that, with completely national production, there will be a 30% reduction in the price of the medicine, and consequently an increase in the supply of the medicine in the country.

“From an economic point of view, the new factory represents autonomy in relation to essential medicines, the mastery of a technology, the capacity to expand even to new technologies, in addition to cost reduction. Whoever owns this technology has a very big advantage from the point of view not only of the market but of scientific competence that will also be able to feed other products”, said minister Nísia Trindade.