Brother of director of Anvisa in private sector association interferes in the body’s routine – 01/29/2023 – Panel SA

The appointment of the new chief executive of PróGenéricos, Thiago Meirelles, should have repercussions on the routine of Anvisa (National Health Surveillance Agency).

Since Thiago Meirelles took over the association (which brings together pharmaceutical companies such as EMS, Hypera and Cimed), this month, the case has been drawing attention in the market and worrying regulatory agency officials, because he is the brother of the person responsible for the 5th Board of Anvisa, Daniel Meirelles Pereira.

The area covers management of pharmacovigilance, monitoring of products subject to sanitary surveillance, as well as ports and airports.

Sought by the Panel SA, both Pró-Genéricos and Anvisa mention respect for the federal legislation that deals with conflict of interest. “All the limits imposed by law have been and will be observed within the scope of the director Daniel Pereira’s activities in relation to Anvisa”, says the agency in a note.

In the curriculum of Thiago Pereira, who has just taken over from Telma Salles, in addition to being a career civil servant at Anac (National Civil Aviation Agency), his career includes passages through the Ministry of Infrastructure and the Civil House of Jair Bolsonaro in recent years.

With the arrival of Thiago Meirelles, Pró-Genéricos announced that it will transfer its headquarters from São Paulo to Brasília, with the objective of being closer to the federal government in discussions such as the duration of pharmaceutical patents, an issue of great interest and conflict in the sector.

Experts point out that kinship will require attention at the organ.

“In the event that Daniel Meirelles Pereira participates in the judgment of an administrative process involving one of the members of that association in which his brother is president, he will have to declare himself impeded, under penalty of incurring a serious disciplinary offense. to act in an administrative process, in which the interested parties are his close friends or relatives up to the third degree, he will have to declare himself a ‘suspect’, without prejudice to legal and disciplinary implications”, says Vera Chemim, constitutional lawyer and master in public law by FGV.

Within the agency, however, there is concern that the absence of a director in drug-related processes, which occupy most of the agency’s workforce, will overwhelm colleagues.

Joana Cunha with Paulo Ricardo Martins and Diego Felix

PRESENT LINK: Did you like this text? Subscriber can release five free hits of any link per day. Just click the blue F below.