Innovation

Innovation, one of the main strategic drivers for Aché business, is demonstrated one of the main drivers of the business and is demonstrated in products, services and processes, boosting our growth and contributing to the Company’s continuity.

In addition to being vital for sustainability, innovation plays an important social and environmental role in promoting the discovery of drugs for unmet needs, preventing diseases, improving people’s quality of life, contributing to longevity, offering effective treatments with greater adherence and convenience, minimizing hospital costs and reducing impacts on natural resources.

Keeping its eyes focused on the future, in 2021 the Company reinforced its role in the development of molecules that had their term of patent protection reduced due to the decision of unconstitutionality of the sole paragraph of Article 40 of the Intellectual Property Code, aiming to be the first laboratory to make similar drugs available to the Brazilian population.

In addition, Aché’s DNA constantly aims at new differentiated therapeutic solutions, thus fulfilling its purpose of bringing more life to people.

In order to maintain our pioneering spirit and offer the market increasingly innovative solutions and products, we invested BRL 153 million in innovation, 47% more than in the previous year we launched 35 products and ended the year with a pipeline with 193 projects, among similar products, incremental and radical innovation.

In 2021, once again, Aché stood out, winning the 1st place in the Innovation Value Award, in the Life Sciences category, appearing as the most innovative national pharmaceutical industry. This recognition confirms the assertiveness of strategies in incremental and radical innovation, implemented over the years.

Innovation is one of the main drivers of the business and is demonstrated in products, services and processes

Incremental Innovation

In order to build models that allow greater speed gain in the three macro stages that comprise incremental innovation in Aché, we carried out an important review of the Warzone (identification of unmet needs to direct our innovation focus); Idea To Book (ideation phase until an approved project is reached) and Book To Market (approved project until it is launched in the market) processes. In addition, we have expanded and strengthened the application of artificial intelligence to gain speed in choices and prioritize opportunities.

The creation of InnovatechLab was another important advance, a R&D laboratory dedicated to the implementation and integration of new technological platforms, aiming at the development of innovative products, with differentiation, which will bring better efficacy, safety, dosage convenience and comfort to patients, including new drug associations and new pharmaceutical forms that increase adherence to prescribed treatments. The technological platforms in implementation aim at the application in molecules relevant to therapeutic indications with high prevalence in the market.

Radical innovation

One of the highlights of the year on the radical innovation front was the partnership signed by Aché with MSRD (McQuade Center for Strategic Research and Development), a research subsidiary of the Japanese pharmaceutical industry Otsuka. The collaboration between the two companies seeks to advance the development of compound ACH-000029, intended for the treatment of GAD (generalized anxiety) and PTSD (post-traumatic stress) disorders.

The initial research and development phase of the project took about 10 years and involved scientists from Aché and partner companies, contemplating the stages of design, synthesis and biological testing of dozens of molecules to reach the candidate selected by Aché. The Phase I clinical studies, as well as the production of the formulations to be used in these studies that will be carried out in the next two and a half years, will be carried out in countries with high regulatory rigor.

We have also advanced in the project that will result in the registration and launch of a product indicated for the treatment of vitiligo, with the potential to revolutionize the market, since there is still no treatment available for the disease.

Another relevant initiative carried out by Aché, in the last year, was the expansion of the scope of the Molecular Design and Synthesis Laboratory, focusing on the development of herbal drugs and drugs from Brazilian biodiversity, with the objective of also executing projects from the Bioprospera platform.

Currently, Aché has 13 radical innovation projects under development, eight of them coming from biodiversity and with the first launch scheduled for 2026.

Looking to the future, in 2021, we became part of the Emerge Amazonia program, which aims to leverage the market for science-based technologies that use Amazonian inputs, together with companies from different segments. For 2022, Aché will start another process of prospecting for new drug research projects from national biomes, focusing on therapeutic areas of interest.

We maintain the unprecedented partnership with Phytobios and CNPEM (National Center for Research in Energy and Materials) to identify bioactive substances in plant extracts of Brazilian biodiversity, enhancing, in this partnership, the expertise of CNPEM in the development and conduct of tests for the identification of bioactive compounds, using high-tech equipment, Phytobios, which has experience in conducting bioprospecting expeditions in Brazilian biomes and Aché, with its expertise in research and development of innovative drugs, focused o biodiversity.

In addition, we maintain a partnership with public and private universities, in addition to project support notices. Currently, we collaborate with research groups at Unicamp (State University of Campinas), LNBio (National Biosciences Laboratory), USP (University of São Paulo) and UFRJ (Federal University of Rio de Janeiro), focusing on areas such as biodiversity, dermatology and oncology, in addition to encouraging projects from different sectors of civil society.

Bioprospera®, biodiversity and science in favor of health

Brazilian biodiversity is the largest and most diverse in the world, since Brazil holds 20% of global biodiversity, in addition to a rich ethnobotanical knowledge. Recognizing this potential, Aché has the exclusive platform for the identification and development of medicines from Brazilian biodiversity, Bioprospera. Aligned with the ESG concept, we develop and deliver innovative products, aiming at the environmental conservation and social development of local communities.

Innovation in numbers

Worldwide Presence

Aché products have reached new markets through licensing agreements that currently cover 21 countries in Latin America, Africa, Asia and Europe. The Company’s incremental innovation portfolio is the main source of internationalization opportunities, with emphasis on products such as Trezete, Betadine XR and Donila Duo. In 2021, the company experienced significant growth in sales abroad, a result driven largely by Trezete. GRI 102-6

Our products are present in 21 countries in Latin America, Africa, Asia and Europe