Pharmaceutical imports and commercial strategies of the leading laboratories during the 21st century in Argentina

Abstract

The significant increase in pharmaceutical imports during the first two decades of the 21st century in Argentina consolidated a deficit commercial structure within the sector, with distinctive elements compared to other industrial branches. This article aims to conduct a sectoral analysis of the factors explaining the trajectory of pharmaceutical imports for the period 2002-2021. From this study, it is argued that this import path was sustained by two central factors: the strategies of leading laboratories following the structural changes of the nineties and the dynamics of biopharmaceutical technological innovations.
Both factors combined to generate activity growth based on the resale of imported products.