Introduction: The natural challenge of the Pharmaceutical Industry

If you are reading this blog, surely you work or are linked to the Pharmaceutical Industry.

Therefore, you know that some of the challenges of our industry are: the complexity of the developments, the necessary investment in clinical studies and the times and demands in obtaining the Sales Authorizations of the products in the different markets, etc.

So, there is no need for me to detail all these issues and others that make the Pharmaceutical Industry a naturally complex field of action.

But you may not know that other additional issues can make everything stated above even more complex…

If you have the interest and the necessary time, you will be able to update yourself on the war in Ukraine, inflation in the different countries of the world and the shortage or increase in the cost of essential products such as gas, oil, food and micro-conductors, among many others…

But you have to have more time and interest to get to some small news, such as the economic crises in Latin America and especially Argentina, where Amarin Technologies SA is based.

And here the title of this comment is explained: “Amarin, the double challenge”

The second challenge: The Argentine context

Amarin is based in Argentina and all of its workers were born and live in this country. Some of us have more experiences with economic crises and others, due to their age, less.

To give you a context of our scenarios and have a numerical reference, without adjectives, of what has been experienced in Argentina in the last 20 years, I detail some numbers.

1.- On Friday 11-30-2001, Economy Minister Domingo Cavallo announced a corralito, which meant an almost absolute restriction for all people to access their money deposited in banks.

2.- A few weeks later, President De la Rúa resigned in the face of chaos in the country and an institutional debacle ensued where Argentina had five presidents between 12-20-01 and 01-01-02.

3.- In 2002, the country had 55% poverty, 22% unemployment and the country risk exceeded 5,000 basic points

4.- In 2002, the drop in GDP was 30%

5.- The country’s GDP in 2001 was USD 300,421 million and in 2020 it was USD 389,064 million. That is a growth of just 30% in 20 years.

6.- Public debt amounted to USD 144,277 million in 2001 (48% of GDP) and in 2020 it was USD 400,459 million (103% of GDP).

7.- The accumulated inflation in Argentina in the last 20 years is 10,197% (correct, more than 10,000%) and in 2022 it is estimated to be close to 100% per year.

It could provide other economic data but the objective is to briefly share the economic reality experienced in Argentina in the last 20 years.

Answers and Attitude of Amarin.

What happened to Amarin and its work group in this same period of 20 years?

1.- The same night of the announcement of the corralito by the Minister of Economy on Friday 11-30-2001, I was in a law firm signing the purchase of the company from its then British owners through a Management Buy Out, supported by other managers and, since that day, my Argentine partners.

2.- Between 2002 and 2008 we exported a hormonal transdermal product to Wyeth Ayerst throughout Latin America for Hormone Replacement Therapy in women.

3.- In 2004 we signed a Cooperation Agreement with Helm AG to register, manufacture and license our development of a Fentanyl patch in Europe

4.- In 2005 and 2006 we built, supported by Helm AG, a transdermal manufacturing plant in Argentina, being audited and approved on August 15, 2006, by the German Health Authorities.

5.- At the beginning of 2007, we began our exports to Europe. The product is still being marketed in several European countries. It is supplied from a plant in Europe, after making a successful transfer of our production and analytical methodologies.

6.- In 2009 we bought the building where we are currently located and developed R&D tasks with a pilot plant, plus quality control and administrative services to support our sales.

7.- In 2010, Helm AG was incorporated as a shareholder and strategic partner of the company through the purchase of 30% of our shares.

8.- In 2017 we reformed the building to introduce the facet of production on a commercial scale of our products under strict GMP standards audited by the countries where we supply.

9.- We currently manufacture and supply Rivastigmine TDS, Buprenorphine TDS, Fentanyl TDS and we hope to start commercially producing Rotigotine TDS in 2024, after completing the corresponding studies and registrations.

10.- Our development capacity has attracted companies looking for a partner like Amarin, which complements their commercial capabilities and product portfolio.

11.- Our products are marketed in Latin America, the USA and Europe and we are in advanced conversations to increase our client portfolio with strategic alliances and commercial agreements with companies in Latin America, USA, EU, MENA, South Korea and the Philippines.

12.- To illustrate what the company has done in these years, we listed below some of the notes that were published in the media in reference to Amarin:

• https://www.argentina.gob.ar/noticias/apostar-al-desarrollo-de-productos-transdermales
• https://www.infobae.com/espacio-no-editorial/2018/11/19/fuera-de-eeuu-y-canada-por-primera-vez-una-empresa-argentina-hara-parches-terapeuticos -In America/
• https://www.ambito.com/edition-impresa/amarin-technologies-invirtio-us14-m-su-nueva-planta-n4038940
• https://www.pharmabiz.net/amarin-inversion-en-patches/

Reason and bases of our achievements.

As you can see in this parallel analysis between the involution of Argentina and the evolution of Amarin, there is a significant capacity to face challenges. For us, nothing is more exciting and challenging than facing complex contexts and scenarios, when many companies have left our country.

At Amarin, we understand and experience our difficulties, but we are proud and confident that we can overcome them. How to do it has not been easy, but it is possible as it appears from the aforementioned data.

At Amarin, we work with the best possible human resources and carry out a job of excellence. To this, we add a double effort to overcome the socio-economic context where we find ourselves and this shows that our greatest asset and advantage is Human Capital. This remains intact while supporting and ensuring the achievement of the company’s objectives.

This thought could be applied to many companies in the world, but at Amarin, we face the challenges of the Industry plus those of the country where we are based and to which we belong. That is our “Double challenge”.

That is why we offer our clients the attention, flexibility and commitment they need and deserve. So they should only evaluate our capabilities and not the context of Argentina.

For all that has been said, and backed by the satisfaction of our customers, Amarin shows that, although we have a Double Challenge, we are and will continue to overcome it.