The area specializing in health auditing at the Federal Audit Court (TCU) recommended that the body determine the suspension of a R$87 million Ministry of Health contract for the purchase of 90,000 vials of immunoglobulin. The contract in question was signed in April with the company Prime Pharma LLC, from the United Arab Emirates, represented by the Brazilian Farma Medical.
The guidance was signed last Thursday afternoon (28), after Metrópoles showed that the ministry signed the contract with exemption from bidding in April, claiming urgency, and to date has not received a bottle of the medicine. The suggestion will now be analyzed by the representation’s rapporteur, minister Vital do Rêgo.
As nothing was delivered, no amount was paid by the government to the company. The last installment is expected to be delivered on Saturday (30/9), and the contract is valid until October 14th.
The technical area also proposed that the court order the ministry to adopt “the strictly necessary measures to guarantee the stock and supply of immunoglobulin”, with another emergency contract, for example, and that a hearing be held between the ministry and Prime Pharma.
The guidance is also that the department must send proof that it has adopted the appropriate measures to supply the medicines and that it has adopted measures to sanction the company for non-compliance with the contract.
Immunoglobulin is a blood-derived medicine, that is, produced from blood, used to improve the immunity of patients affected by a series of diseases, such as Guillain-Barré syndrome.
The TCU’s technical area says that the ministry should already be adopting additional measures, whether starting another contract on an emergency basis or speeding up the notice for a new tender, to avoid any future risk of shortages.
The expected start of delivery of the medicines was May 30th. However, as the product sold by Prime Pharma is not registered with the National Health Surveillance Agency (Anvisa), the necessary procedures for exceptional import authorization would, in any case, delay the first installment.
Considering that this is an emergency contract for the supply of essential inputs for public health, the delay in supply is very impactful and the contractual default is serious. — specialized area in health auditing at TCU
On July 28th, the ministry sent a notification of breach of contract, and another notification was sent on August 22nd. Asked by the court about what measures it has been taking in response to the delays, the department only said that it sent notifications. For the technical area of the TCU, the ministry “is complacent with unjustifiable delays”.
The company’s justifications
To the TCU, Farma Medical, which represents Prime Pharma in Brazil, said that the merchandise has been ready and packed since June 13th, and ready for shipment since July 19th, just awaiting import authorization, which, according to her, it is up to the ministry.
The court’s technical area, in turn, stated that “no reasonable justifications were reported for this delay” and that “there is no assurance that this merchandise is actually on the way and will be delivered to the ministry”.
The owner of Farma Medical, Silvio de Azevedo Pereira Júnior, told Metrópoles that the TCU audit ignores evidence presented by the company. “It is regrettable that there is no in-depth technical analysis of at least the documents issued by Anvisa,” he said.
The businessman highlighted that the analysis of documents for the import of products under his jurisdiction went slower than the analysis of products delivered by his competitor, Auramedi Farmacêutica.
Auramedi
The representation in question was initiated after a request from the Goiás micro-company Auramedi, as a representative of the Chinese Nanjing Pharmacare, which received the majority of the contract with no need for bidding. Auramedi pointed out in a petition that its competitor was not delivering the medicines, and asked that the expected amount of 90 thousand vials of the medicine could be added to its contract.
In February, the ministry opened a price assessment to hire, without bidding, a company to supply 383.5 thousand vials of immunoglobulin. Auramedi was responsible for supplying 293.5 thousand vials at R$ 285.8 million, and Farma Medical was responsible for the rest.
However, the history and size of the micro-company in Goiás is noteworthy, as it has only one employee registered at least until March and a share capital of R$1.3 million. Despite its size, the company has complied with the contract, albeit with delays in some installments.
The TCU’s technical area says that the ministry has not yet paid for the products, something that so far amounts to around R$206 million, and recommends that payment be made to prevent the company from “being economically unable to supply medicines”.
Silvio Júnior, from Farma Medical, criticizes the audit’s stance. “It is regrettable that in the TCU order itself we see the auditor saying that it is to pay quickly, to comply with Nanjing’s payment, so as not to jeopardize future contracts. Now, we can’t have a regulatory body saying: ‘pay on time, otherwise they won’t sell to us anymore’. It’s unfortunate,” he said.
Panamerican
Nanjing is also represented in Brazil by Panamerican Medical Supply, which has as one of its partners Marcelo Pupkin Pitta, a businessman in the sector who was arrested in Operation Vampiro, in 2004, and again in 2007. The investigations revealed suspicion of fraud in bidding at the Ministry of Health, precisely in purchases of blood products, including immunoglobulin.
Metrópoles also showed this week that Panamerican closed two contracts worth R$647.2 million with the ministry in 2021 and 2022, under the government of former president Jair Bolsonaro (PL), to supply this same medicine.
In this same representation analyzed by the technical area of the TCU, Farma Medical points to a suspected relationship between Auramedi and Pitta, but the issue was discarded due to lack of evidence for analysis.
What does the ministry say
In a statement, the Ministry of Health stated that it had already notified the company Prime Pharma, represented in Brazil by Farma Medical, for failure to meet deadlines and delivery of immunoglobulin. The ministry stressed that “notification is a necessary step in the administrative procedure for suspending the contract”.
The ministry also highlighted that it has been complying with and complying with all TCU determinations in relation to the medication purchase process.
