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Conversation highlights:
- SteinCares, founded in 2016 as the specialty care division of Laboratorios Stein, has consolidated a market-driven business model acting as a bridge between Latin America's unmet healthcare needs and global specialty care developments. Today, with a presence in more than 30 countries across Latin America and the Caribbean and strategic partnerships with leading biotech and pharmaceutical companies, SteinCares has established itself as the partner of choice for global companies seeking to enter or expand in the region.
- SteinCares has built a strong and growing portfolio in Brazil, with an active presence across oncology, rare diseases, and immunology. Multiple products received ANVISA approval ahead of schedule, demonstrating the strength and agility of SteinCares' regulatory execution.
- The Brazil team combines deep local market knowledge with a global perspective and is expected to grow by approximately 50% by year-end. This expansion reflects SteinCares’ commitment to building high-performing teams with a growth mindset, resilience, and a strong focus on agile execution in complex healthcare environments.
- SteinCares has a robust regulatory pipeline in Brazil, with a number of products currently under ANVISA evaluation and additional submissions planned in the near term — reflecting the pace at which the company continues to expand and consolidate its presence in the country.
- 2026 marks SteinCares' entry into the biosimilars segment in Brazil — a strategic milestone that reinforces our role as a budget balancer, supporting healthcare system sustainability, expanding access to cost-effective and innovative specialty care treatments.
- SteinCares oncology portfolio in Brazil is growing, with products currently under regulatory evaluation that address significant unmet medical needs.
- SteinCares' strategy in Brazil is built around three core therapeutic areas: immunology — leveraging biosimilars as cost-effective alternatives; rare diseases — with a growing orphan drug portfolio addressing unmet medical needs; and oncology — with an expanding pipeline of innovative treatments.
- As the partner of choice for global biotech and pharmaceutical companies, SteinCares combines deep regional expertise, a robust one-stop-shop platform, and long-standing relationships to enable greater access to specialty healthcare across Latin America, with Brazil playing a significant role in that vision.
- Looking toward 2030, SteinCares' vision is to become the reference specialty care company in Latin America — with full regional coverage, a diversified portfolio, and a robust pipeline to deliver innovative and cost-effective treatments to patients across the region. Brazil plays a key role in that vision, as the company continues to expand its portfolio and grow its team in Latin America's largest pharmaceutical market.
EF: What are the key milestones SteinCares has achieved since we last spoke three years ago?
JA: At a regional level, SteinCares has consolidated its position among the top five non-Big Pharma pharmaceutical companies in Latin America, with clear leadership in the non-retail segment. In recent years, we have strengthened our presence through strategic acquisitions in Colombia and Chile, entered Mexico, and added new licensing agreements with global partners.
In Brazil, where we consolidated our first year of operations, we have evolved from an organization laying foundations in the country to accelerating growth. Since our last conversation, we have launched multiple products in the market across multiple therapeutic areas. We have launched a high-dose iron treatment for anemia, and treatments targeting Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (ALL)* in pediatric patients and ultra-rare bile acid synthesis disorders. Over the past 12 months, we have strategically built a team of 25 highly specialized professionals to establish a strong and sustainable presence in this market. Additionally, we have advanced multiple product submissions with ANVISA and expect to continue expanding our regulatory pipeline in the near term.
EF: What are your current priorities with the molecules you are submitting to Anvisa?
JA: We're preparing five additional products for ANVISA submission in the near term, while accelerating the three products already launched. We're entering the biosimilar market in immunology, a therapeutic area that is completely new for our operation in the country, requiring us to actively introduce SteinCares to healthcare professionals in this area. Our priority is preparing the market for biosimilar entry, where I believe we can really make a difference, by offering the healthcare system both innovation and budget sustainability for payers. We're also accelerating the full potential of our oncology pipeline.
EF: How do you manage growth in this complex scenario of scaling and entering different markets?
JA: We manage growth through three aspects: speeding the market, shaping the market, and navigating between control and optimistic perspectives. We speed up preparation by training our team. We’re building agile squads to prepare the oncology segment from different perspectives, speaking with key opinion leaders, reference centers, and healthcare professionals. We navigate between optimistic scenarios and conservative, realistic budget investments because we are in a complex world with geopolitics, wars, and uncertainty. We must be realistic about investments and taking advantage of opportunities in Latin America.
EF: What is the strategic importance of Latin America and Brazil to SteinCares?
JA: Latin America is one of the most complex healthcare regions in the world in terms of geography, economy, and reimbursement scenarios, but also one of the most promising. With a portfolio of over 500 products and strategic partnerships with leading global biotech and pharmaceutical companies, SteinCares’ mission is to act as a bridge between Latin America's unmet healthcare needs and global specialty care developments. Over the past few years, we have perfected our market-driven business model in more than 30 countries across Latin America and the Caribbean, with more than 20 strategic partnerships with leading global biotech and pharmaceutical companies. Brazil is at the center of these transformations and represents the future. Looking forward to 2030, our ambition is to become a reference specialty care company in Latin America. This means accelerating access for innovative therapies, building sustainable global partnerships, and developing local capabilities to bring treatments faster and more efficiently to patients. Our vision in Brazil is to position SteinCares as the leading specialty pharmaceutical platform for rare diseases, oncology, and biosimilars while creating healthcare opportunities that positively impact the lives of patients and their families.
EF: How do you work with global organizations to create partnerships rather than them establishing their own operations in Brazil?
JA: Brazil represents a highly attractive market on its own, with more than 200 million people and close to 50% of the total Latin American pharmaceutical market. On top of that, the growth trajectory is strong, with the market expected to exceed USD 60 billion by 2035.
SteinCares has a solid track record in launching biosimilars and innovative treatments across diverse Latin American countries, often being first-to-market.
A deep understanding of regional market dynamics is another key differentiator. We know how demand evolves, how access pathways differ by country, and how factors such as underdiagnosis, fragmented healthcare systems, and payer complexity shape successful launches in Latin America.
By integrating a partner’s asset into the right portfolio, supported by strong local execution and highly specialized market access capabilities, we enable sustainable growth while significantly reducing operational complexity for global players that want to scale in Brazil without building local operations from the ground up.
EF: What do companies of the future need, and how have you built your highly specialized team while incorporating digitization and AI?
JA: Companies of the future need a strong culture as much as they need a clear strategy. Strategy defines direction, but culture determines speed. When organizations attract and hire the right profiles, they move faster in market penetration, training, decision‑making, and relationship building.
At SteinCares, we always keep purpose at the heart of everything we do. This approach is anchored in three cultural pillars. First, frontline obsession, which keeps us close to HCPs, patients, and healthcare systems. Second, making things happen, ensuring we prioritize action and outcomes over bureaucracy. And third, an insurgent spirit, which encourages us to challenge the status quo and rethink how things are done.
These pillars are essential in Latin America, where linear strategies rarely work in non‑linear environments. Success requires adaptability, flexibility, and teams empowered to make decisions close to the market.
When it comes to digitization and AI, we see technology as an accelerator, not a replacement, for specialized teams. In Latin America, personal relationships and face‑to‑face engagement with healthcare professionals and authorities remain critical, especially in niche and highly specialized markets.
EF: What would you like to accomplish by 2030 in your current role?
JA: I have a clear vision for Brazil and Latin America, with Brazil operating as a full flagship and the rare disease segment emerging as a pivotal new field for SteinCares.
Looking towards 2030, my legacy would be to help realize SteinCares' vision of becoming the reference specialty care company in Latin America, putting our brand on the global map as a leader in rare diseases. Particularly for Brazil, as the region's largest pharmaceutical market, we will significantly expand our product portfolio, our local team, and drive substantial business growth.
