02/26/2021 11:53 AM
Clarín.com
Economy
Updated 02/26/2021 12:43 PM
After knowing the news that Richmond Laboratories was going to produce the Sputnik V vaccine in Argentina, the company's share rose 5%.
Within half an hour it was already up 32%.
With a good relationship with the ruling party
, its majority owner and president,
Marcelo Figueiras
, a 57-year-old accountant from the UBA, had received President Alberto Fernández at his plant in Pilar at the beginning of the month, within the framework of an investment announcement from the US. $ 80 million in five years for research and expansion of production capacity.
The strength of the laboratory is oncology, cardiovascular and HIV-AIDS products.
“This investment is a
sign of confidence and a commitment to the country
.
We are excited to know that
we have the support of the president
and his entire team, to ensure the accessibility of patients to quality treatments and create new sources of work, "said the businessman that day, in which he also
pondered the management of the pandemic
by the Government.
On that occasion, he also highlighted the need for the country to have "sufficient health sovereignty in the future to be able to produce entirely what we need," he said.
A sign of the agreement that would come with Russia.
And the need for
"import substitution"
that he usually defends.
Marcelo Figueiras and María Laura Leguizamón.
/ MOBILPRESS
Figueiras is married to former senator María Laura Leguizamón, a
friend of Cristina Kirchner
, with whom they usually have an active social life.
They got married in 2013, at the Yacht Club of Puerto Madero at a party attended by Amado Boudou, Daniel Scioli and Aníbal Fernández.
The businessman, in addition to owning the laboratory, has interests in the insurance and banking business.
In the latter case, he owned a stake in the Finansur bank, which he later sold to the questioned businessman K Cristóbal López.
He also participated in the media business, among other things as a shareholder of the
newspaper Crítica, founded by Jorge Lanata.
Richmond began to be a supplier of medicines for the State during the presidency of Fernando de la Rúa.
As now with Sputnik V, during the Flu A crisis in 2019,
the laboratory was one of the four chosen by the Cristina Kirchner government
to produce Oseltamivir, the drug that fought the virus.
His company went public in 2017 and, since then, it has faced an expansion plan that continued despite the pandemic (this year the company managed to increase its staff by 10%).
It has subsidiaries in Colombia, Chile and Paraguay and is looking to expand to Mexico and Brazil.
In addition to Figueiras, which has 38.48% of the company, they also own Richmond Busnel SA with 24.74%;
Alberto Serventich, with 19.24%;
and the remaining 17.54% is listed on the Stock Market.
The company had sales of $ 3,540 million in the first nine months of 2020, an increase of 17% compared to the previous year and, despite the pandemic, it had a profit of $ 162 million, against a loss of $ 67 million in January and September 2019.
According to his own website, Figueiras is a River fan and participates in high-performance sports competitions and marathons.
NE
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Coronavirus: Richmond laboratory signed an agreement to produce the Sputnik V vaccine in Argentina
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