Lula will visit a factory in Minas Gerais that will resume insulin production in Brazil – Estado de Minas

The third visit of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) to Minas Gerais during the current term takes place this Friday (26/4) in Nova Lima, in the Metropolitan Region of Belo Horizonte. The head of the Executive comes to the state to inaugurate the industrial plant of the biomedicine company Biomm, responsible for resuming the production of insulin glargine in Brazil. The federal government’s investment in the factory was announced during Lula’s first visit to Minas, at an event announcing federal government actions for the state, which took place in the center of BH.

On the occasion, on February 8, the Minister of Health, Nísia Trindade, included in her presentation the contribution of around R$1 billion to the resumption of full insulin production in the country. Nísia is one of the confirmed attendees at Friday’s event. In addition to her and Lula, the Minister of Science, Technology and Innovation, Luciana Sales, will be present; and the Minister of Mines and Energy, Alexandre Silveira (PSD-MG).

A pioneer in the biomedicine sector in Brazil, Biomm plans to produce 20 million insulin refills annually in the new factory. The company hopes to launch pens with the medication soon. Nova Lima’s production represents 80% of domestic demand. The Nova Lima industrial plant has 12 thousand square meters of built area and is expected to create 300 direct jobs and 1.2 thousand indirect jobs.

Insulin is the essential medicine for controlling diabetes, which affects tens of millions of Brazilians. According to data from the Surveillance of Risk Factors and Protection for Chronic Diseases by Telephone Survey (Vigitel), published in November last year, 10.2% of the country’s population lives with the disease. At the beginning of this month, the National Health Surveillance Agency (Anvisa) approved a set of changes that allow the production of insulin glargine. The new definitions allow Biomm to carry out the formulation and final packaging stages of the product in the national territory.

The insulin glargine currently consumed in Brazil is imported exclusively from China. Anvisa’s new determination allows the resumption of meeting domestic demand carried out by Brazilian companies.

The factory

Biomm was founded in 2001 after the purchase of Biobras by the Danish company Novo Nordisk. The merger yielded the Brazilian company’s technology from the previous 26 years and the Scandinavians’ experience in producing pharmaceuticals on an industrial scale. In 1979, Biobrás, through a joint venture with the American Eli Lilly & Co, began producing insulin, carried out in a factory based in Montes Claros, in the North of Minas Gerais.

Investments in the Nova Lima factory began in 2016. Production in Greater BH began the following year and, in 2018, the National Health Surveillance Agency (Anvisa) approved the company’s first product, a long-acting insulin analogue.