The Economic-Industrial Health Complex and Local Drug production: a case study of organizational sustainability

Abstract

The article analyzes the Brazilian industrial policy for the health sector in the last two decades by describing the conditions of organizational sustainability vis-à-vis the induction of the Ministry of Health’s Partnerships for Productive Development (PDP). The case study of a large Official Pharmaceutical
Laboratory (LFO) identified unanticipated effects caused by governmental induction in the industrial area. The use of the case study method was essential for the analysis of organizational issues that cannot be accurately explained by simple quantitative description. It is shown in the article that PPDs have successfully expanded the productive capacity of the public sector in the pharmaceutical area. However,
PPDs results should be carefully evaluated in the case of Farmanguinhos. The article concludes that the production unit of Fiocruz (Oswaldo Cruz Foundation) will probably face serious challenges regarding sustainability. Government purchases under PPDs did not favor gains in scale or scope, negatively affecting the LFOs with high production capacity, as is the case of Farmanguinhos.