MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Brazil opens insulin-producing plant

Lula recalled that his 7-year-old great-granddaughter had diabetes and would need the medication

Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva Friday participated in the city of Nova Lima, state of Minas Gerais, in the opening of the Biomm recombinant human insulin-producing plant. The Government will purchase the entire output to make it available free of charge nationwide for diabetes patients. The facility is said to have cost around R$ 800 million (US$ 156 million) through loans from public banks. The South American country currently imports 95% of the insulin it uses. Some 15.7 million adults are said to have the malady nationwide.

“Being present at the inauguration of Biomm's insulin factory in Minas Gerais shows the strategic importance of an industry like this for Brazil. I saw our dream of sovereignty in the health area taking shape,” Lula wrote on X about the occasion. He also recalled that his 7-year-old great-granddaughter Ana Lua has type 1 diabetes and therefore needs this medication. “She will live a long life” now that she will have insulin produced locally, the President hoped.

Also a Friday's ceremony, a cooperation agreement was signed between Biomm and the state-owned Oswaldo Cruz Foundation (Fiocruz) to develop drugs to treat metabolic diseases.

The new Biomm facility is expected to generate 300 direct jobs and 1,200 indirect jobs.

Diabetes is a disease caused by insufficient production or poor absorption of insulin, a hormone that regulates blood glucose and provides the body with energy. Insulin breaks down glucose (sugar) molecules and transforms them into energy to maintain the body's cells. Diabetes can cause blood glucose levels to rise and high levels can lead to complications in the heart, arteries, eyes, kidneys, and nerves. In the most severe cases, diabetes can lead to death.

Biomm is a pioneer in the biomedicine sector in Brazil and is part of the National Strategy for the Development of the Health Economic-Industrial Complex (CEIS), launched by the Government in September 2023.