Alexandre Gibim, senior Vice President of Latin America at AstraZeneca, brings extensive global pharmaceutical leadership experience spanning China, the US, and Canada. In this exclusive interview, he articulates AstraZeneca's strategic commitment to Latin America as a critical growth engine, detailing the company's 110 million USD (two billion Mexican peso) investment programme, robust clinical research infrastructure, and differentiated approach to healthcare system engagement across the region's diverse markets.

 

What motivated your decision to assume leadership of AstraZeneca’s Latin American operations, particularly given your distinguished experience in other major markets?

Having managed operations across strategically significant markets, including China, the US, and Canada, I can confidently assert that Latin America represents one of the most dynamic and promising pharmaceutical regions globally. This assessment proved instrumental in my decision to accept this role.

My optimism regarding Latin America’s future stems from a distinctive convergence of factors: exceptional human capital, healthcare systems undergoing substantial development, and an increasingly collaborative ecosystem between public and private sector stakeholders. AstraZeneca Latin America functions as one of the organisation’s primary growth engines – a characteristic that particularly attracted my attention while exploring this opportunity.

Furthermore, AstraZeneca maintains exceptionally strong positioning for accelerated expansion in the forthcoming years, supported by a diversified product portfolio and a robust innovation pipeline. The opportunity to contribute to this trajectory of accelerated growth, ultimately impacting millions of patients’ lives, constituted the compelling factor that brought me to AstraZeneca.

 

Latin America is delivering double-digit growth for many multinational pharmaceutical companies, outpacing global averages. What structural factors do you believe underpin this regional outperformance?

The drivers vary considerably across organisations. Some companies have experienced substantial growth attributable to specific therapeutic innovations, such as GLP-1 therapies, whilst others have benefited from new product approvals and reimbursement inclusions across various national markets.

What fundamentally differentiates AstraZeneca is our sustained track record of double-digit growth throughout Latin America over consecutive years. Since 2022, AstraZeneca has consistently delivered high double-digit expansion across virtually all therapeutic areas and country clusters. This performance reflects a confluence of strategic factors.

Foremost is innovation. The volume of new product launches AstraZeneca has executed during this period is remarkable. However, AstraZeneca distinguishes itself through an organisational orientation centred on healthcare system enablement. We provide not merely the innovative solutions that patients require, but deliver these solutions in a manner customised to each healthcare system’s unique requirements and capabilities. This dual focus on therapeutic innovation and healthcare system partnership fundamentally differentiates AstraZeneca from competitors whose growth may derive from isolated product successes.

 

Given AstraZeneca’s increasingly sophisticated oncology portfolio, how do you enable adoption of such advanced technologies in low- to middle-income healthcare systems with varying levels of infrastructure readiness?

AstraZeneca indeed possesses radioligand therapy capabilities and stands among the select pharmaceutical organisations offering the complete spectrum of oncology treatment modalities: immuno-oncology, targeted therapies, radioligand therapies, CAR-T cellular therapies, and beyond.

Naturally, facilitating access to innovation and implementing novel therapeutic approaches in Latin America presents greater complexity compared to developed markets across North America, Europe, or even Asia. Addressing the essence of your question: what renders AstraZeneca unique is our demonstrated ability and institutional capacity to adapt our commercial strategies according to specific healthcare system requirements.

Our go-to-market approach for advanced technologies in Brazil differs fundamentally from our commercialisation strategy in Mexico, Argentina, or other markets. AstraZeneca recognises that Latin America constitutes a heterogeneous region characterised by divergent healthcare systems, variable capacity for technology absorption, and disparate reimbursement frameworks. Healthcare delivery models range from fully public systems to hybrid public-private architectures.

Our broad product portfolio encompasses multiple technologies across diverse tumour types, with numerous technologies addressing multiple indications. Consequently, it proves absolutely critical – indeed fundamental – for AstraZeneca to thoroughly assess each healthcare system’s developmental stage, financial capacity, and structural requirements, subsequently customising our commercial offering accordingly. This adaptive approach ensures optimal alignment between therapeutic innovation and healthcare system capabilities.

 

For readers less familiar with the region, how would you characterise the reimbursement environment in Latin America – particularly in oncology – and to what extent is government reimbursement essential for meaningful market penetration?

When examining Latin America holistically, a sobering reality emerges: numerous patients within public healthcare systems still lack access to innovative technologies, particularly in oncology. Whilst vaccines achieve near-universal coverage and certain primary care products demonstrate broad availability, oncology patients – individuals confronting cancer diagnoses – unfortunately remain underserved in most jurisdictions.

Access, therefore, constitutes an absolute imperative. This situation simultaneously represents a tremendous opportunity for all healthcare ecosystem stakeholders to meaningfully engage with government officials and elevate awareness regarding the critical importance of serving these patients in desperate circumstances, requiring technologies that fundamentally differentiate between extended life and premature mortality.

 

To what degree do patient access programmes or similar mechanisms remain necessary to ensure uptake of innovative therapies in Latin American markets?

Patient access programmes do represent common practice, though they constitute merely one mechanism amongst numerous alternatives for supporting healthcare systems and facilitating technology adoption.

Certain countries prioritise localisation as a fundamental policy. Brazil and Mexico, for example, seek to enable access whilst simultaneously creating conditions for long-term pharmaceutical self-sufficiency. Other markets emphasise regulatory frameworks – Colombia exemplifies this approach, where products achieving regulatory approval essentially receive automatic reimbursement consideration. However, Colombian regulatory timelines prove considerably more protracted compared to other markets.

No single factor constitutes the predominant access barrier. What unifies the region is this unfortunate commonality: most patients currently lack access to the technologies they require, particularly in oncology.

 

With AstraZeneca’s recent introduction of a novel hypertension therapy in a highly competitive, price-sensitive category, how do you anticipate securing differentiation and adoption among healthcare systems and patients?

AstraZeneca maintains a distinguished heritage in the cardiometabolic and renal therapeutic area, complementing our oncology and respiratory franchises. The specific technology you reference addresses a critical unmet medical need: patients who have failed to achieve adequate hypertension control with existing therapeutic options.

These patients face a significant risk of serious complications attributable to inadequate blood pressure management, potentially including stroke, outcomes that impose substantial cost burdens upon healthcare systems. We firmly believe this innovative technology will address a genuine medical need for the specific patient population demonstrating treatment-resistant hypertension with conventional therapies.

Whilst premature to discuss pricing frameworks, the technology has demonstrated statistically significant superiority versus the current standard of care in rigorous clinical evaluation.

 

How do you position Latin America within AstraZeneca’s global clinical research infrastructure? Is the region now considered a mature contributor to global R&D strategy?

Clinical research in Latin America represents a particularly compelling topic. I would assert that Latin America possesses all the necessary foundational elements to function as a premier global hub for clinical research. We maintain access to talented investigators, respected research institutions, and critically important diverse patient populations essential for contemporary clinical trial design.

To illustrate our commitment, during 2024, AstraZeneca invested 87.2 million USD in research and development throughout Latin America, excluding oncology programmes in Brazil specifically. We are currently conducting 134 active clinical trials across key therapeutic areas region-wide – a substantial research portfolio by any measure. We observe increasingly robust results emerging from regional sites.

Additionally, we are advancing artificial intelligence tools to expand diagnostic capabilities and accelerate clinical trial execution with enhanced efficiency throughout the region. These figures speak directly to our sustained commitment to regional clinical research.

Can we accomplish more? Can the region expand its research capacity? Unequivocally yes. We observe outstanding research capabilities in various locations– Argentina exemplifies this with favourable regulatory frameworks and established research infrastructure. I believe regulatory agencies across the region are progressively creating environments where Latin America can compete effectively against other global research hubs.

 

To what extent does clinical data generated in one Latin American country support regulatory submissions in another? How aligned – or fragmented – are regulatory agencies in terms of data recognition?

Data portability depends upon the specific regulatory authority in each jurisdiction. To my recollection, Latin American countries generally do not impose restrictions on utilising clinical data generated in Brazil, Argentina, Mexico, Colombia, or other regional markets, nor data originating outside the region.

Conducting in-country clinical trials remains important for regulatory consideration. However, unlike Asia – where Chinese population inclusion in clinical trials represents a mandatory requirement for Chinese regulatory approval – we do not encounter such stringent population-specific requirements in Latin America’s most significant markets.

 

AstraZeneca recently announced a significant manufacturing and innovation investment in Mexico. What strategic considerations led to this decision, and how does it fit within the company’s broader regional footprint?

AstraZeneca maintains a substantial operational presence throughout Latin America, demonstrably more extensive than numerous competitors. AstraZeneca recently announced a 2 billion Mexican peso investment – approximately 108 million USD – structured across three strategic pillars.

Firstly, expanding clinical research capabilities. Secondly, strengthening our Innovation and Technology Centre in Guadalajara, which functions as a critically important Latin American hub serving global operations, driving digital transformation and technological inclusion. Thirdly, expanding our manufacturing facility for essential medicines. Our Mexican operations produce over 40 million packages annually, serving Latin American markets comprehensively.

Beyond infrastructure considerations, these investments deliver meaningful human impact. We are recruiting and training substantial numbers of colleagues in Guadalajara and across Mexican operations. Notably, 60% of colleagues represent female talent, reflecting our robust diversity and inclusion commitments.

Whilst you inquired about Mexico specifically, our regional commitment extends considerably beyond Mexican operations. Throughout Latin America, we have established substantial operational and manufacturing sites in Brazil alongside Mexico, maintain extensive quality control laboratory facilities in Argentina, and sustain a meaningful presence across numerous markets.

 

Given Latin America’s enormous geographical scale, how do you ensure operational coherence and best-practice sharing across markets with substantial logistical and structural differences?

Geography undeniably influences Latin American operations. When briefing US colleagues, I often note that Brazil geographically exceeds the continental US excluding Alaska and Hawaii – a fact that consistently surprises them.

However, what proves increasingly apparent is that Latin American nations share more commonalities than differences. I observe countries collaborating with increasing frequency to address shared challenges and opportunities – substantially more than historically occurred. As a leading multinational pharmaceutical organisation, AstraZeneca can facilitate this collaborative dynamic.

I firmly believe AstraZeneca’s responsibility as market leader and the region’s largest multinational pharmaceutical company includes helping healthcare systems achieve greater efficiency and serve expanded patient populations. Advancing this objective, we actively share successful models across jurisdictions. Within my initial two months in this role, I have observed numerous examples where we have connected diverse stakeholders and disseminated best practices, enabling countries to learn from peer experiences.

 

As Latin America’s largest pharmaceutical market, how would you characterise the current competitive environment in Brazil, particularly the rise of domestic companies and the operating conditions for multinationals?

Brazil unquestionably constitutes Latin America’s largest pharmaceutical market, and this holds for AstraZeneca. Your observation carries validity – domestic companies have indeed achieved faster growth rates than multinational corporations in recent years.

Within Brazil specifically, I believe domestic companies have capitalised on legacy primary care products that continue demonstrating substantial growth trajectories nationally. However, and this reinforces my earlier message, AstraZeneca represents an outlier amongst multinational competitors. Our organisation has sustained impressive growth across all therapeutic areas and patient segments we serve.

This provides an excellent opportunity to reiterate our portfolio’s strategic power. Our innovations constitute genuine breakthrough therapies that fundamentally transform patient outcomes. Secondly, AstraZeneca Brazil operates with the agility and engagement of a domestic company – deeply integrated with the local healthcare ecosystem, serving the nation’s requirements across both private and public healthcare sectors.

When examining how AstraZeneca delivers value aligned with Brazilian healthcare priorities, our sustained double-digit growth trajectory becomes comprehensible and justified.

 

Considering portfolio innovation cycles and regional macroeconomic volatility, how sustainable is AstraZeneca’s current double-digit growth trajectory across Latin America through 2025, 2026, and beyond?

Double-digit growth in Latin America proves sustainable long-term, certainly through the forthcoming five-year horizon, contingent upon sustained innovation. AstraZeneca possesses a substantial pipeline of new launches – both novel products and expanded indications – scheduled for the coming years. This innovation pipeline represents a critical strategic pillar. Not all pharmaceutical organisations enjoy comparable positioning.

Throughout my recent country visits over the past fortnight, I have emphasised to colleagues that we face a privileged challenge: managing the volume of launches and innovative technologies capable of genuinely transforming patients’ lives.

I remain absolutely convinced that successfully serving all patients within public healthcare settings who require our technologies – both existing products and forthcoming launches – will enable sustained high double-digit growth. This precisely defines our strategic plan for AstraZeneca Latin America.

AstraZeneca has publicly articulated aspirations to achieve eight billion USD in revenues by 2030 – the organisation’s official target, which would elevate AstraZeneca’s ranking amongst global pharmaceutical corporations. I can definitely state that Latin America maintains a critically important role in realising that vision. We have consistently grown faster than AstraZeneca’s global average, and we must sustain above-average growth rates to meaningfully contribute toward the corporation’s 2030 objectives.

 

This presumably necessitates approaching executive leadership for enhanced resource allocation in the foreseeable future.

Naturally, resource considerations remain important. Having operated across numerous markets and organisations throughout my career, I can confidently assert that AstraZeneca demonstrates a substantial commitment to resourcing Latin America appropriately. As our operations expand, investment capacity will correspondingly increase – precisely as demonstrated through our Mexican investment and numerous other regional initiatives.

This represents another powerful demonstration that Latin America holds strategic importance for AstraZeneca. I observe with concern that numerous pharmaceutical corporations are reducing their regional footprint, consolidating operations, diminishing investments, or even withdrawing from certain markets entirely.

AstraZeneca stands in stark contrast. We remain unequivocally committed to Latin America as integral to our mission of serving patients, and we continue investing substantially throughout the region.

 

Beyond the topics discussed, are there any additional perspectives you wish to share regarding AstraZeneca’s long-term commitment to Latin America?

My concluding observation, informed by experience across numerous companies and markets: AstraZeneca embodies an exceptionally bold proposition – the seamless integration of rigorous science and meaningful purpose.

Our long-term commitment to Latin America, our substantial operational presence across virtually all markets, remains relatively rare. Few organisations possess simultaneously a flourishing product pipeline capable of transforming multiple disease states – oncology, haematology, cardiometabolic conditions, respiratory diseases – alongside the optimistic future perspective I have articulated.

Latin America holds genuine relevance for AstraZeneca, providing extraordinary opportunities to attract and develop exceptional talent, contribute to local economies, and serve millions of patients requiring our technologies.

This represents a distinctive strategic trajectory. Whilst other organisations reduce presence, streamline operations, and concentrate resources exclusively on large markets such as the US and China, AstraZeneca maintains strong positioning to pursue both strategies simultaneously – over-investing in major markets whilst fulfilling our essential role in regions like Latin America. This strategic approach fundamentally differentiates AstraZeneca from all competitors.