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Tag: LATAM

  • Argentina’s $8 Billion Clinical Research Commitment: What It Means For Medtech Startup FIH Trials In 2026

    Argentina’s $8 Billion Clinical Research Commitment: What It Means for MedTech Startup FIH Trials in 2026

    By Julio Martinez-Clark, CEO, bioaccess® | June 2026

    The Signal That Most MedTech Founders Missed

    In late May 2026, seven of the world’s largest pharmaceutical companies — Pfizer, Merck, Roche, Novartis, Bristol Myers Squibb, GSK, and Sanofi — pledged a combined $8 billion in Argentine clinical research investment over the 2026–2032 period. Days later, Argentina’s national drug and food regulator, ANMAT, published Disposición 2978/2026, cutting import tariffs on medicines and medical devices by 50 to 70 percent, effective June 1, 2026.

    The pharma industry picked up the $8 billion figure immediately. MedTech largely did not. That gap is worth examining — because for a structural heart, neuromodulation, or radiopharmaceuticals startup planning a first-in-human (FIH) trial in the next 18 months, these two policy events together represent one of the most significant shifts in the LATAM early-phase clinical research environment in a decade.

    This piece walks through what actually changed, why it matters specifically for device and biotech FIH programs, and how to think about Argentina as part of a first-in-human trial site strategy in 2026.

    What Changed: Disposición 2978/2026 and the $8B Commitment

    The Tariff Reduction

    Disposición 2978/2026 is not a pilot, a phase-in, or a proposed amendment — it is in effect. Import tariffs on medicines and medical devices were reduced by 50 to 70 percent, effective June 1, 2026. For a device company running an FIH feasibility study, this has a direct, calculable effect on budget: investigational devices entering Argentina for clinical use carry materially lower landed cost.

    In early-phase device trials, the investigational product is often the single largest variable cost item outside of site and monitoring fees. A 50 percent reduction in import tariffs on a novel transcatheter device, for example, can change the per-patient cost model meaningfully — particularly for seed-stage and Series A sponsors working with sub-$15 million clinical trial budgets.

    The tariff change also simplifies regulatory logistics. One of the historically cited friction points in Argentine FIH trials has been the import authorization process for investigational devices that were not commercially registered in Argentina. Lower tariff classification, combined with ANMAT’s active throughput cadence, reduces one layer of that friction.

    The $8 Billion Pharma Commitment

    The $8 billion multi-company pledge is not a single infrastructure project — it represents committed clinical research spend across seven major sponsors over six years. The practical implications:

    • Site infrastructure: When Pfizer, Roche, and Novartis are committing multi-year research spend to Argentina, they are investing in investigator networks, clinical infrastructure, and regulatory capacity at sites. This infrastructure — trained investigators, GCP-compliant facilities, ethics committees with high-volume experience — is precisely what a MedTech startup needs for an FIH feasibility study.
    • Regulatory capacity: ANMAT’s workload will increase, but so will its institutional capacity. Regulators that process high volumes of multi-national submissions develop faster, more predictable review cycles. Argentina approved 290 new clinical studies in 2025, an 8 percent year-over-year increase, with more than 1,000 active trials and 50,000+ participants enrolled. The $8 billion commitment is a signal that this trajectory accelerates.
    • International credibility: Large pharma’s visible commitment to Argentina as a clinical research destination reduces the country risk perception that smaller device sponsors sometimes encounter when presenting LATAM FIH data to US investors and regulatory reviewers.

    Practical Considerations for MedTech Sponsors

    A realistic timeline from engagement to first patient for a novel device FIH study in Argentina: Weeks 1–4 site identification; Weeks 5–8 ethics committee; Weeks 6–12 ANMAT authorization; Weeks 10–16 site initiation; Weeks 14–20 first patient in. The Argentina FIH environment also benefits from bioaccess® multi-country capability covering Argentina and Colombia as primary FIH jurisdictions.

    Sources

  • Julio Martinez-Clark on Tech Can't Save Us: Accelerating MedTech and First-in-Human Success

    Julio Martinez-Clark on Tech Can’t Save Us: Accelerating MedTech and First-in-Human Success

    Julio Martinez-Clark, co-founder and CEO of bioaccess®, recently joined host Paul David on Tech Can’t Save Us — the podcast by Literal Humans that explores technology’s real-world limits and what it takes to build companies that last. The episode is now live across all major podcast platforms.

    Listen on Apple Podcasts | Listen on Spotify | Full episode on the TCSU website

    The “Valley of Death” — And How MedTech Startups Survive It

    The conversation opens with a sobering reality: roughly 90% of healthcare startups fail — not because their technology is flawed, but because they exhaust their capital before generating the clinical data needed to raise their next round or secure an exit.

    With monthly burn rates averaging $300,000 to $400,000, the clock is always running. The fastest path off the clock is the fastest path to first-in-human data.

    That’s the problem bioaccess® was purpose-built to solve.

    What bioaccess® Does — and Why LATAM

    bioaccess® is the world’s first contract research organization (CRO) built specifically around first-in-human (FIH) clinical trials. By combining deep site relationships, regulatory expertise, and operational infrastructure across Latin American markets — including Panama and El Salvador — bioaccess® compresses clinical timelines by up to 40%.

    As Julio explained on the podcast, speed in LATAM doesn’t mean cutting corners. Every trial bioaccess® runs adheres strictly to ICH and GCP guidelines — the same international standards required by the FDA and EMA. What differs is execution: rapid site activation, predictable patient recruitment, and a team that has done this before, in these markets, for these device types.

    Democratizing Access to Life-Saving Innovation

    One of the most compelling threads in the conversation is the human dimension of clinical research. The patients who participate in first-in-human trials in lower-income settings often have no other access to advanced medical care. For them, participation isn’t a transaction — it’s a lifeline.

    Julio discussed how this dynamic shapes bioaccess®’s philosophy: that moving faster on clinical timelines is not just a business imperative but a moral one. Compassionate, high-quality clinical research restores dignity and delivers access to innovations that would otherwise take years longer to reach these communities.

    Building Without Outside Capital

    The episode also covers bioaccess®’s self-funded growth strategy — a deliberate choice that has kept the company focused on delivering value to sponsors rather than chasing metrics that serve investors. Julio shares the discipline required to grow this way and the common mistakes he sees first-time founders make when they let fundraising urgency drive clinical decision-making.

    La Cebolla de Pandora

    Julio reflects on the period he spent writing La Cebolla de Pandora — a book that gave him the space to examine his own assumptions about what success, purpose, and impact actually mean in the context of a company trying to change how medicine reaches people.

    Listen Now

    The full episode runs 26 minutes. You can find it on the Tech Can’t Save Us website, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and all major platforms.

    If you’re a MedTech or biopharma startup navigating your path to first-in-human data, explore how bioaccess® can compress your timeline →

    Tech Can’t Save Us is produced by Literal Humans, a marketing agency focused on technology and innovation.