Research and Development of anti tuberculosis medicines

     Dr. Mario Drisun (Health Minister of Santa Fe Province and LIF’s Chairman) participated in a press conference where LIF and UNL presented the project “Research and Development of anti tuberculosis medicines”.
     Dr. Albor Cantar (UNL’s Rector) and Eng. Carlos Arques (LIF’s Directors) also participated in the conference together with Dr. Drisun.
     The meeting took place at LIF’s headquarters where different UNL’s authorities, project’s members; LIF’s Directors and Managers, journalists and other health’s authorities were present.
     Through this project LIF and UNL* are going to research and develop four medicines for the treatment of tuberculosis:
-Rifampicin + Isoniazid + Pyrazinamide (triple association).
- Ethambutol.
- Rifampin + Isoniazid (double association).
- Isoniazid.
     “The meeting between LIF and UNL is an excellent strategy and an authentic example of state policy”, says Mario Drisun.
     “We want to produce these medicines in three years. In this way, we are going to achieve a solution for the National Government and mainly for all the patients in Argentina”, says Carlos Arques.

The Project
     The project is going to have a final investment of $39.000.000.
     BID(1) is going to support/finance $23.000.000 while LIF-UNL Consortium(2) is going to finance $16.000.000.
     LUC (2) is going to build a new development, quality control and production areas at LIF.

Tuberculosis today in Argentina
      Every year between 800 and 1000 people die from tuberculosis in Argentina.
     It is the second cause of death by infectious diseases and it has a high impact in vulnerable groups of the population.
     Many death are because people don’t respect the treatment. Many patients start the treatment but then they don’t finish it (10 - 20% in Argentina).

(*) UNL: Universidad Nacional del Litoral
(1) BID: IDB, Interamerican Development Bank.
(2) LIF- UNL Consortium (LUC) is an associative consortium between two public institutions through which the public production of medicines (LIF) take the knowledge from the national technological scientific system (UNL).

LIF's Board of Directors received Senator Miguel Lifschitz

     On June, 12th, Engineer. Miguel Lifschitz* (Rosario’s Provincial Senator) visited LIF.
     LIF’s Board of Directors welcomed the provincial legislator and then they had a meeting in which they gave information about the different activities and projects that LIF has been developing for Santa Fe province and for National Government.
     Mariano Cuvertino (Social Economy Director of Santa Fe Municipality) was another visitor that participated in the meeting together with Miguel Lifschitz.
     Carlos Arques, Guillermo Cleti, Diego Bruno and César Daniel Salomón (LIF’s Board of Directors), Carlos Minatti (Trustee) and Roberto Ganín (General Manager) participated by LIF.
     After the meeting, all of them visited the different areas.

*Engineer Miguel Lifschitz: former Mayor of Rosario city. Nowadays he is Provincial Senator by Rosario Department.

Lecture about Public Health for General Practitioners.

The lecture took place on May, 23rd in Nodo Reconquista headquarters.

Daniel Salomón (LIF’s Director) gave a lecture about the management model of public production of medicines that LIF has made in Santa Fe Province for more than sixty years.

The main objectives of these activities are to give information to GPs* about the correct use of medicines, their public production, costs and safety update reports.

Other important people who attended this meeting were Elvia Gómez (Director of Biochemistry and Pharmacy - Santa Fe’s Health Ministry) and Laura Bugna (Safety Update Reports Coordinator - Santa Fe’s Health Ministry).

*GPs: General Practitioners.

50th Anniversary of the Laboratorio Hemoderivados

     On May, 21st, 2014 LIF’s Directors Diego Bruno and Guillermo Cleti attended the act and reception to celebrate the 50th Anniversary of the Laboratorio de Hemoderivados de la Universidad Nacional de Córdoba (LH UNC)*.
     The meeting took place at the LH UNC’s headquarters in Córdoba where authorities from different governments (National, Córdoba Province and Municipality) were present as well as other public and private laboratories’ directors, universities’ deans and all LH UNC’s staff members.
     LIF’s Directors gave a commemorative plaque to Magister Catalina Massa (LH UNC’s Executive Director) as souvenir.
     In the same act, LH UNC’s authorities inaugurated a new area for the development of new formulas.

(*) LH UNC: Laboratorio de Hemoderivados de la Universidad Nacional de Córdoba is the laboratory of the National University of Córdoba, which is specialized in blood medicines production.

LIF's Board of Directors received the Río Negro Health's Minister

     LIF’s Board of Directors, Carlos Arques, Diego Bruno, Daniel Salomón and Guillermo Cleti, received the Río Negro Health’s Minister, Dr. Norberto Delfino.

     José Priegue (UFI’s General Coordinator of the National Health Ministry), Mauricio Monsalvo (General Coordinator of REMEDIAR Program), Carlos Minatti (LIF’s Trustee) and Roberto Ganin (General Manager) also participated in the meeting. All of them exchanged their different work experiences in health.
     LIF’s Boards of Directors gave information about the progress of the medicines production for REMEDIAR Program and they offered Dr. Delfino all the support to help the PROZOME* Lab to reach the National approval by ANMAT**.
     “In 2010, LIF and PROZOME signed an agreement of mutual collaboration and assistance through which both institutions can work together in joint projects” said Diego Bruno.
     After the meeting, all of them visited the different areas such as quality control, storage and production.

*PROZOME: Laboratorio Productor de Medicamentos de la Provincia de Río Negro. (Manufacturer Laboratory of Medicines of Río Negro province). It is a state-run laboratory manufacturing pharmaceutical products.
(**) ANMAT: Administración Nacional de Medicamentos, Alimentos y Tecnología Médica. (National Regulatory Agency for medicines, food and medical devices).

Meeting with the Health's Minister Mario Drisun

     LIF’s Board of Directors has had a meeting with Santa Fe Health’s Minister Dr. Mario Drisun.
     The meeting took place at LIF where Dr. Drisun was given information about different LIF’s projects like producing medicines for patients with tuberculosis, and morphine and metadona for the Instituto Nacional de Cáncer. As well as the building of a new administration area.
     Emiliano Arzuaga (Health Ministry’s Administration Secretary) and Juan Pablo Gutierrez (Health Ministry’s Human Resources Secretary) also attended the meeting.

     Then, all of them participated in a term meeting with the LIF’s staff members where Dr. Drisun gave a lecture about Santa Fe’s Public Health System and highlighted the great relevance of the public production of medicines.

Lecture about medicines in Rosario

     Carlos Arques (LIF’s Director) participated in a lecture called “The problems of medicines and the health management in Argentina”.

     This activity took place on May 9th at the Jorge Sábato room in DEFANTE & CÍA. S.A (Rosario).
     This meeting was organized by Consejo Consultivo para el Crecimiento de Santa Fe, Grupo Delta and Capacita Salud.
     These lectures are free for all the population and have as their main objective to present different problems of the health sector in Argentina.
     Dr. Juan José D'Aloisio (LEM* President), CPN Fernanda Pesado (LEM’s Vice President) and Dr. Ernesto Báscolo (Director de la Maestría de Gestión en Sistemas y Servicios de Salud - Universidad Nacional de Rosario) also participated in this lecture.

 *LEM SE: Laboratorio de Especialidades Medicinales, Sociedad del Estado. It is the Rosario’s city hall public laboratory.