BIOM3 Biomm

Biomm S.A. is a Brazilian biotechnology company founded in 2001, following the partial spin-off of Biobrás S.A., a traditional insulin company in the country. At that time, Biomm absorbed all intellectual property related to recombinant DNA production technology, including international patents and assets needed to continue operations. After control of Biobrás was sold to the Danish company Novo Nordisk in 2002, Biomm remained under the leadership of entrepreneurs involved in the development of biotechnology in Brazil, who had taken part in initiatives such as Fundação Biominas, ABRABI, and the local biotechnology production cluster of Belo Horizonte and its metropolitan area. Throughout the 2000s, the company set up corporate vehicles abroad and pursued international projects focused on insulin production, such as the joint venture in Saudi Arabia through Biomm Middle East.

Biomm’s trajectory includes significant capital-raising moves and the structuring of industrial and commercial operations. In 2012, the company approved its listing on the Bovespa Mais segment of the then BM&FBOVESPA, now B3, converting preferred shares into common shares and amending its bylaws to focus on corporate governance practices. In 2014, its shares began trading on B3 under the ticker BIOM3, consolidating the company as a publicly traded issuer in the Brazilian market. From that period on, Biomm intensified its strategic review, expanding its scope to a broader portfolio of biotech drugs, especially for the treatment of chronic diseases highly relevant to public health, such as diabetes.

Biomm’s business model combines industrial activities with a strong component of importing, storing, and marketing biotech drugs in Brazil through strategic partnerships with several international laboratories. The company generates revenue predominantly from importing thermolabile medicines, ensuring an appropriate cold chain, storage in certified facilities, and nationwide distribution. In 2024, the company consolidated its industrial phase with ANVISA’s approval of its biopharmaceutical plant in Nova Lima, Minas Gerais, which began production in April that year, enabling in-house manufacturing of insulin glargine and, potentially, other therapeutically relevant proteins. Despite this industrial expansion, the financial statements indicate that Biomm operates as a single operating segment, reflecting an integrated approach to biopharmaceuticals.

Biomm’s portfolio is diversified within the pharma and biotechnology segment, focusing on drugs for diabetes, oncology, rheumatology, thrombosis, immune-mediated diseases, and ophthalmology. In diabetes, the company markets, among others, inhaled insulin Afrezza, a human insulin administered via inhalation for adults; Wosulin, human insulin in NPH and regular presentations, widely used in the Brazilian healthcare system; and Glargilin, a biosimilar biopharmaceutical of long-acting insulin glargine. In addition, it maintains in its portfolio or pipeline insulin analogs and antidiabetic drugs such as semaglutide, degludec, liraglutide, aspart, and lispro, forming a broad set of therapeutic options for glycemic control. In other therapeutic fronts, products include Herzuma (a biosimilar of trastuzumab for HER2-positive breast cancer), Ghemaxan (a biosimilar sodium enoxaparin for deep vein thrombosis and unstable angina), and biopharmaceuticals under development or in the approval phase, such as bevacizumab, pegfilgrastim, teriparatide, denosumab, ustekinumab, and ranibizumab.

Biomm’s commercial strategy is based on supply, distribution, and licensing partnerships with global pharmaceutical companies, in which the company acts as the importer responsible for logistics, storage, and marketing of drugs within Brazil. The company has two foreign subsidiaries, Biomm International Inc. and Biomm Middle East Inc., used mainly to facilitate international negotiations and technology transfer projects, although current revenue is generated entirely in Brazil. Its relationship with the Ministry of Health is significant, with this client accounting for a substantial share of net operating revenue in 2024, especially due to the supply of human and biosimilar insulins for Brazil’s public healthcare system (SUS).

Biomm’s geographic presence is concentrated in Brazil, with industrial and operating units located mainly in Minas Gerais and Santa Catarina, as well as an office in São Paulo. The biopharmaceutical plant in Nova Lima houses production, packaging, and storage activities for insulin and other biopharmaceuticals, operating under good manufacturing practice certification. Branches in Contagem, Minas Gerais, and in Itajaí, Santa Catarina, were structured as storage and distribution centers for insulin and other products, forming a logistics network that serves 21 Brazilian states and the Federal District. The company does not record revenue from abroad, focusing its commercial strategy on the domestic market, both in the public and private channels, through distributors, pharmacies, private health insurers, and government agencies.

From a regulatory standpoint, Biomm operates in a heavily supervised environment, characteristic of the pharmaceutical sector. Manufacturing, import, storage, distribution, and marketing of medicines are subject to regulation by the Brazilian Health Regulatory Agency (ANVISA), which grants product registrations and good manufacturing practice certifications, as well as by the Drug Market Regulation Chamber (CMED), responsible for setting and adjusting maximum drug prices in the country. In addition to these federal bodies, the company is subject to requirements from municipal governments, professional councils, environmental agencies such as the Minas Gerais State Environmental Policy Council (COPAM), the Fire Department, and the Federal Police, depending on the type of product and infrastructure used. Industrial and storage activities require environmental licensing with preliminary, installation, and operating permits, which are periodically renewed and conditioned on technical environmental protection requirements.

In environmental, social, and governance practices, Biomm does not yet publish a structured ESG report for the market, but states that it adopts internal procedures to comply with social, environmental, and labor legislation. The company has implemented solid-waste management controls at the Nova Lima plant, with identification, quantification, and proper disposal, as well as noise monitoring and assessment of potential environmental impacts, in line with conditions established by SUPRAM/MG. It also maintains programs and policies for occupational health and safety, tracking accidents, ensuring the presence of a safety technician, and compliance with applicable Regulatory Standards. On the social front, the company states that it adheres to principles of respect for human rights, non-discrimination, inclusion, and combating child and slave labor, formalized in a code of ethics and conduct. It also undertakes initiatives to hire people with disabilities, young apprentices, and interns, in addition to an Environmental Education Program to be implemented with the local community, reinforcing the integration between the industrial operation and its surroundings.

Biomm shares, traded under the ticker BIOM3 on B3, provide exposure to the pharma and biotechnology segment focused on complex biological drugs, particularly for the treatment of diabetes, cancer, thrombosis, and chronic diseases. The company’s positioning combines installed biopharmaceutical industrial capacity in Brazil, a portfolio based on insulins, biosimilars, and biopharmaceuticals licensed from global partners, as well as commercial relationships with the public sector and private distribution channels. This configuration places Biomm in a specific niche within the Brazilian pharmaceutical industry, with an emphasis on products of high technological complexity and intense regulation of prices, quality, and safety of medicines sold in the domestic market.