Agreement includes production, commercialization of gastroenterology product

06/07/2022

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Omilton Visconde Junior and Rafael Suarez — Foto: Celso Doni/Valor

Brazil’s Cellera Farma has signed an agreement with the Swiss laboratory Ferring for the production and commercialization of an innovative medicine for gastroenterology healing, in the first step of a partnership that may be more comprehensive in the future.

For Cellera, whose controlling shareholders are businessman Omilton Visconde Júnior and private equity manager Principia Capital Partners, this first project represents technology transfer, occupation of the installed capacity of the Indaiatuba plant, in São Paulo, and a new jump in revenues, with the right of the first choice for commercializing the new drug.

Ferring, which is present in 56 countries, now has local production of one of its drugs and will use Cellera’s broad bases to take it to health professionals and pharmacies throughout the country. The biopharmaceutical company, specialized in fertility, gastroenterology and urology, has placed one of its 12 innovation centers in Brazil and wants to advance in research and development locally.

The new drug — a gel that combines two existing molecules to accelerate the healing process of anal fissures and control pain — was developed in the country, at Ferring’s center. In future projects, Cellera may even join the multinational at this stage.

The drug will enter phase 3 of clinical studies in 2023 and may reach the market in mid-2025. So far, investments in the product have reached between R$15 million and R$17 million, and more R$5 million are likely to be spent until registration at the health regulator Anvisa. In the launch phase (“go-to-market”), investments are estimated at R$50 million. “The product will be important for both companies,” said Rafael Suarez, Ferring’s CEO in Brazil and leader for Latin America.

According to the multinational, the choice of Cellera as a partner took into account the quality of its productive assets, which meet the requirements of international agencies, and the willingness to invest in innovation. Besides that, the proposal is that the drugs developed by the partnership can be internationalized without the need to repeat clinical studies abroad, said Renato Faro, head of R&D and regulatory affairs at Ferring.

Omilton Visconde Júnior, CEO of Cellera, says that the Brazilian pharmaceutical company bets on partnerships to grow, at the same time avoiding exposure to commoditized products, in line with what Ferring has to offer. With operations in the central nervous system (CNS) and gastroenterology fields, the pharmaceutical company has some participation in pediatrics and is evaluating the entrance into orthopedics. “Our focus is innovation,” he says.

Mr. Visconde Júnior became known for his sequential ventures in the health sector in the country. Among other moves, he sold Biosintetica to Aché in 2005 and, years later, he sold Segmenta, of hospital serums, to Eurofarma. In 2017, he and his private equity partner formed Cellera, the result of the purchase of Instituto Terapêutico Delta and the company MIP Brasil Farma.

For this year, the Brazilian pharmaceutical company is expected to reach R$500 million in revenues, 10 times more than in 2017. The plan, according to the businessman, is to seek an IPO when the company reaches the R$1 billion threshold, in three to four years.

Ferring, formed in 1950, belongs to a single owner and has been in Brazil since 1985. Worldwide, the group has revenues of $2 billion and invests 20% of its revenue per year in R&D, said Mr. Suarez.

Source: Valor International

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