Name still little known in Brazil, the multinational SteinCares It arrived less than two years ago in the country, willing to take a slice of the crowded high complexity drug market. These are treatments for rare diseases, which usually cost to the public health system and private institutions, such as hospitals and health plans.
Currently, giants like Roche, Janssen and Novartis dominate the distribution of these products in the world, and here is no different. The entry of a new playerOn the other hand, not only allows the arrival of new treatments to the country, but tends to cheapen those who are already available.
“The arrival of a biosimilar in the market generates an average of 40% of economy for the payer, whether the government or a private institution. We see this in more mature markets, such as Europe and the United States, and also materializing here in Brazil,” Julio Avella, general manager of Steincares in Brazil, said to Brazil, Infomoney.
Biosimilar reproduce the effects of biological medicines and are developed after the patent of these products fall. Steincares currently has partnerships with global pharmaceuticals that develop biosimilars for the treatment of cancer and autoimmune diseases, for example.
The company still operates in the segment of high complexity generics (non -biological), hemodestrivities (treatments obtained from blood plasma) and also has an innovative front front.
“These are products that, in fact, bring an innovation, to a need not yet met from patients,” explains Avella, giving as an example Treatments for lung cancer and bile acid synthesis disease, considered rare pathologies.
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Waiting for ANVISA
In Brazil, Steincares has 14 licensed products. In addition to the diseases already mentioned, the company’s portfolio will also provide treatments for psoriasis, Crohn disease, rheumatoid arthritis, among others.
“Only these 14 products represent a $ 2 billion market,” says Avella. The company foresees to earn US $ 130 million with the commercialization of medicines in Brazil by 2028. But the distribution has not yet started, as it still depends on the registration of the National Health Surveillance Agency (Anvisa).
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“We know that times in Brazil are not short. Anvisa’s registration may take from a year and a half to two years to leave,” says the executive ahead of the distributor’s operation in the country. Still, it is a strategic country for Steincares for representing half of the special care market in Latin America.
No wonder, in addition to leading the Brazilian operation, Avella is also responsible for acquiring licenses for distributing medicines that deal with rare diseases for the entire Latin American market.
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Via Acquisition Entry
The region has been in the company’s focus, founded for 45 years in Costa Rica by the Wassersteins, a family of pharmacists. For decades the company produced medicines for retail, until the second generation of the founders assumed business management and turned Steincares into a licensor for high complexity products.
Today, the company has a presence in over 30 Latin American and Caribbean countries and a portfolio with over 500 products. Before entering Brazil, he joined Chile and Colombia, through the acquisition of local companies. There was no different here: in August last year, Steincares bought Inova Pharmaceutical, a company based in Santana do Parnaíba (SP).
“It is a company that had all the necessary authorizations to operate in Brazil, but that did not yet have any licensed products,” explains Avella. With the acquisition, Steincares now has a quality laboratory for importation and distribution of medicines in Brazil.
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The expansion should continue, with operation in Mexico, later this year, and in Argentina, in 2026. In 2023, Steincares received an IFC capital injection, the World Bank’s investment arm (whose value was not disclosed), with the objective of expanding access to specialized health treatments. The contribution was fundamental for the company to enter the largest markets in Latin America.
