What impact did the pandemic have on the Pharmaceutical and Medical Technology Industries in Mexico?

We were faced with many challenges when the pandemic began, however, as a company oriented to its patients, we saw it as an opportunity to renovate our processes and strategy. We did this to find the best practices to deliver medicine to patients and to comply with the regulatory landscape as well as, cooperate with the measures implemented by government.

In what ways do you see the in-house legal role evolving in your region over the next few years?

Technology and automation should drive the basic legal processes such as contracts and corporate transactions to deliver a more leveraged business impact. General counsel will need to challenge the traditional operating model and prepare structures and processes to accommodate the evolution of in-house legal roles. They will need to focus on new priorities and functions, adopt appropriate tools and working styles, retain and develop legal talent, adapt to new ways of litigation (risk anticipation), and adjust to a new legal environment.

What are the most significant cases or transactions that your legal team has recently been involved in?

We were able to support business to tailor-made contracts, which were negotiated with about 27 pharmaceutical companies and sign contracts in a timely fashion to comply with new regulations, namely the ‘Vanguard model’.

We negotiated and signed an Asset Purchase Agreement with one of the biggest logistic operators in a timely fashion to comply with a public contract. Also, we designed a strategy to understand and comply with new regulations concerning the outsourcing of workers. We were able to reshape contracts, company bylaws, and create HR processes to ensure the compliance of the business with new regulation.

As we enter the next decade, what skills will a corporate legal team need to succeed in the modern in-house industry?

Corporate legal teams will need to have technological competence and knowledge, financial acumen, display emotional intelligence, learning agility and adapt to a remote working culture.