Up for Global Tender, Mexico’s Purchase of 3.536 Billion Medicines

ByÁngeles Cruz Martínez

This article by Ángeles Cruz Martínez originally appeared in the July 20, 2026 edition of La Jornada, Mexico’s premier left wing daily newspaper.

In the consolidated purchase of medicines for the 2027-2028 period, eight federal government entities are taking part, four of which are agencies dependent on the Ministry of Health. Together they will buy a maximum of 3.536 billion units of generic, oncological, and anti-infective drugs, through the international public tender, in which only countries with which Mexico has some trade agreement will participate.

The call for tenders establishes that the clarification meeting will be held on Thursday, July 23, and the presentation and opening of technical and economic proposals will take place on August 5. In the following days, the subsequent discount offer processes (reverse auction) will be carried out, and afterward the ruling and awarding of the contracts will be issued.

Representatives of the pharmaceutical industry estimate that, if there are no delays in the schedule, the process will conclude in September.

Meanwhile, the negotiations between the health authorities and the pharmaceutical laboratories that produce innovative medicines protected by a patent have concluded, reported Phelipe Philippsen, president of the Lilly laboratory in Mexico. The US-capital company’s sales to the public sector represent 25 percent of the total of its products, among which insulin for the treatment of type 2 diabetes stands out.

Regarding the negotiations with the innovation industry, other executives commented that, unlike what happened in previous years and governments, the talks stood out because the health authorities had the real advice of medical specialists from each therapeutic area, and the decisions were made based on public health criteria and not only on prices.

New Schedule

They also highlighted that in the past, the authorities would announce in June that the talks would take place, and they were held only in the last quarter of the year; the contracts were awarded in the first months of the following year and, therefore, the deliveries were completed after March.

This time, in contrast, only the formalization of the contracts is left for the companies to start working on the planning and production of the supplies to begin deliveries in January 2027.

Several More Tenders Announced

Regarding the generic, oncological, and anti-infective medicines included in the public tender that was announced last Thursday, the businesspeople consulted stressed that it is the first of several, since the one relating to medical supplies and medical devices is still pending.

The public tender LA-12-NEF-012NEF001-T-218-2026 provides for the acquisition of 767 drug codes, of which 108 are considered high priority and concentrate 80 percent of the maximum volume projected in the purchase. So indicates an analysis by the consulting firm Government Conextion, and it mentions that 142 codes are medium priority; they are equivalent to 15.6 percent of the purchase intention, and the low-priority ones are 516 codes, with 4.86 percent of the demand.

The review of the tender’s data indicates that of the 10 medicines with the greatest demand from public health institutions, four are for the care of type 2 diabetes (metformin and insulin), three for arterial hypertension (losartan, enalapril, and amlodipine). The remaining three are for the treatment of cholesterol (atorvastatin), respiratory diseases (salbutamol), and control of stomach acidity (omeprazole). The health institutions request, together, 900,232.3 million units of this group of ten pharmaceutical products.

Participating in this consolidated purchase are the Mexican Social Security Institute (IMSS), the Institute for Social Security and Services for State Workers (Issste), and Birmex on behalf of IMSS Bienestar –which is in charge of the medical services of 24 states of the Republic– and the national institutes of health and high-specialty hospitals.

Among the buyers are also Petróleos Mexicanos (Pemex), the National Commission on Mental Health and Addictions, as well as the national centers for the Prevention and Control of Diseases, for Gender Equity, Sexual and Reproductive Health, and for the Prevention and Control of HIV/AIDS and hepatitis.

Although the federal government had reported that Birmex would be the sole administrator of the contracts, the call for tenders establishes that each participating entity will be responsible for those that correspond to it.