IFC Backs Neolpharma to Expand Medicine Production in Mexico

The financing includes a feature that IFC says is a first for its investments globally: a key performance indicator directly linked to disability inclusion in the workplace.

The International Finance Corporation is providing financing to Mexican pharmaceutical group Neolpharma to expand domestic medicine production, reduce the country's reliance on imported pharmaceutical ingredients and create hundreds of skilled jobs.

The investment will increase local production of active pharmaceutical ingredients, known as APIs, and injectable medicines, two areas that play an important role in keeping hospitals, pharmacies and healthcare providers supplied with essential products. Mexico currently imports more than 85 per cent of its APIs, leaving its pharmaceutical industry heavily dependent on overseas suppliers and vulnerable to disruptions in international supply chains.

Once the planned facilities are fully operational, the project is expected to create around 600 skilled jobs while adding manufacturing capacity that could make medicine supplies more reliable and strengthen Mexico's ability to respond to future healthcare needs.

New Facilities Will Expand Domestic Medicine Production

Part of the IFC financing will support Neolpharma's acquisition and modernization of an API manufacturing facility in Cuernavaca, Morelos. Funding will also go towards building a new plant in Mexico dedicated to producing injectable medicines.

Increasing domestic API production is particularly significant because these ingredients form the essential components used to manufacture pharmaceutical products. Greater local capacity can reduce exposure to international shortages, shipping delays and other disruptions that can affect the availability and cost of medicines.

Sanaa Abouzaid, IFC Division Director for Mexico, Central America and the Dominican Republic, said stronger local pharmaceutical manufacturing can improve access to affordable medicines while making supply chains more resilient and creating quality employment. The investment is also expected to support innovation and competitiveness within Mexico's pharmaceutical sector.

Loan Introduces Disability Inclusion Incentive

The financing includes a feature that IFC says is a first for its investments globally: a key performance indicator directly linked to disability inclusion in the workplace. Neolpharma will be able to receive a reduction in the spread on its loan if it reaches agreed targets for providing internships and employment opportunities to people with disabilities. Linking part of the financing terms to workplace inclusion gives the company a financial incentive to translate its employment commitments into measurable results.

The approach adds a social dimension to a project already expected to generate about 600 skilled positions, potentially creating opportunities for people with disabilities to participate more fully in Mexico's growing pharmaceutical manufacturing workforce.

New Plant Designed With Resource Efficiency in Mind

Environmental considerations are also being incorporated into the planned injectable medicines facility. The plant is expected to pursue EDGE Advanced certification, a green-building standard that recognises significant improvements in the use of energy, water and construction materials.

Energy- and water-efficiency measures are planned as part of the facility's development, with the intention of reducing greenhouse gas emissions and limiting resource consumption as production expands.

Neolpharma Group CEO Astrea Ocampo described the investment as an important step towards strengthening Mexico's pharmaceutical capacity. She said the company plans to continue investing in innovation, domestic manufacturing and specialised talent while working to make high-quality medicines more affordable and accessible.

Investment Ties Into Wider Global Healthcare Goal

The project also forms part of a broader World Bank Group effort to improve access to healthcare. In 2024, the Group announced a goal of helping countries provide quality and affordable health services to 1.5 billion people by 2030.

The initiative is intended to support access to a basic standard of care throughout people's lives, covering needs from infancy and childhood through adolescence and adulthood. Expanding the production and availability of medicines is one part of achieving that ambition.

For Mexico, increasing pharmaceutical manufacturing at home could have benefits that stretch beyond the new factories themselves. Producing more APIs and injectable medicines domestically can strengthen healthcare security, develop specialised industrial skills and make the country less exposed to disruptions originating thousands of kilometres away.

IFC's investment in Neolpharma brings those priorities together by combining pharmaceutical production, skilled employment, environmental efficiency and disability inclusion in a project designed to strengthen Mexico's healthcare and industrial capacity.