MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

GSK to open distribution hub in Montevideo

GSK's decision had been conveyed to Uruguayan authorities last year but GSK has now set a date

Pharmaceutical giant GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) will open one of its “three new regional vaccine distribution centers” in Uruguay, it was announced during President Luis Lacalle Pou's trip to London.

In the next two months, the British company will open in Montevideo one of its three new regional vaccine distribution centers to handle more than 12 million doses annually in six South American countries: Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Paraguay, and Uruguay.

Operations will be based at Montevideo's Carrasco Airport, specifically at the Latin America Cargo City facilities, an airport duty-free zone. Latin America Cargo City is a single brand of Corporación América Airports bringing together two existing business units: Terminal de Cargas Uruguay (TCU), and the MVD Free Airport unit.

Lacalle Pou “welcomed GSK's announcement of the opening of one of its three new regional vaccine distribution centers in Uruguay”.

The decision to move in had been conveyed to Uruguayan authorities in December last year but GSK has now set a date. The company aims to optimize costs and reduce delivery times through a hub where it will concentrate the products manufactured in its different plants in Europe. Nevertheless, the agreement between GSK and Uruguay began to be negotiated in 2017, when both parties entered into a cooperation agreement for the joint financing of research projects.

According to a statement from the Uruguayan government, the company plans to distribute drugs for the treatment of asthma, COPD, allergic rhinitis, epilepsy, and HIV, among others.

During Lacalle's meeting with British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, the launch of a sovereign bond linked to sustainability goals was discussed. The UK “encouraged exploring the cross-issuance of this bond in London to access the ample global capital funds present in the UK financial system,” the statement pointed out.

Economy Minister Azucena Arbeleche said in London that the government has already held meetings with investors in New York and that this week they will talk with potential stakeholders in the UK and Paris. She also ratified that climate goals will be tied to the reduction of greenhouse gases and the preservation of native forests.