Nuplam UFRN

What Nuplam UFRN does

NUPLAM (Núcleo de Pesquisa em Alimentos e Medicamentos) is a public pharmaceutical industrial laboratory established on April 30, 1991 by Portaria nº 567/91-R as a supplementary unit of the Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte (UFRN) in Natal, Brazil. It evolved from earlier entities (LAFAPI/NIQUIFAR in 1972, then FUNAM foundation in 1977), and since 1999 has produced and distributed its own line of basic medicines to public pharmaceutical assistance organs of the Brazilian Unified Health System (SUS) across all 27 states. The 27,000 m² facility on the UFRN campus houses pharmaceutical production lines, a water treatment station, and a quality control laboratory equipped with HPLC, GC, NIR, Karl Fischer titrators, DSC, thermogravimetry, climate chambers, and MilliQ water purification systems. NUPLAM holds active ANVISA registrations for two products: Cloridrato de Fingolimode 0.5 mg capsules (multiple sclerosis) and Olanzapine 5 and 10 mg coated tablets (neurological conditions).

The organization's business model is government-driven: revenue flows through public procurement (Chamadas Públicas), Parcerias para o Desenvolvimento Produtivo (PDPs) with the Ministry of Health, and funding via the Fundo Nacional de Saúde (FNS). NUPLAM also offers quality control and technical assistance services to public and private entities, runs a pharmacovigilance reporting service, hosts technical visits and a vacation school program (Escola de Férias em Indústria Farmacêutica), and operates internship and technical scholarship programs across at least six UFRN graduate programs. Its go-to-market is sales-led but executed through Brazilian public sector procurement rather than commercial channels, and its distribution is exclusively through the SUS supply chain. Strategic partners include EMS (Brazil's largest pharmaceutical company), Nortec Química, Globe Química, Instituto Métrópole Digital (IMD/UFRN, for a technology residency), and peer public laboratory Fundação Ezequiel Dias (FUNED).

Name

Nuplam UFRN

Legal name

Núcleo de Pesquisa em Alimentos e Medicamentos (NUPLAM)

Website

https://nuplam.ufrn.br

Company type

Public

Founded year

1991

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

NUPLAM (Núcleo de Pesquisa em Alimentos e Medicamentos) is a public pharmaceutical industrial laboratory of UFRN in Natal, Brazil that manufactures medicines for the Brazilian Unified Health System (SUS), holding ANVISA registration for Fingolimod and Olanzapine products and supporting SUS supply across all 27 states.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Public Pharmaceutical Manufacturing

NAICS

Pharmaceutical Preparation Manufacturing (325412), Pharmaceutical and Medicine Manufacturing (3254), Drugs and Druggists' Sundries Merchant Wholesalers (42421)

SIC

Pharmaceutical Preparations (2834), Services-Medical Laboratories (8071)

akta.pro primary industry

Generic Finished Dosage Form (FDF) Manufacturing (HLAIABAH)

akta.pro secondary industry

Oral Solid Dose (OSD) Generics (HLAIABAD)

Keywords

• Pharmaceutical manufacturing
• Public health medicines
• Quality control laboratory
• Academic pharmaceutical research
• Government drug supply

Headquarters

HQ city

Natal

HQ country

Brazil

HQ region

Latin America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Hardware or Manufacturing

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Infrastructure, Technology or R&D, Others

Revenue model

1. Pharmaceutical Production for SUS: NUPLAM produces and distributes its own line of basic medications to public pharmaceutical assistance organs across all states of Brazil since 1999, as part of the Brazilian Unified Health System (SUS) supply chain. Revenue is generated through government procurement contracts and public calls (Chamadas Públicas) for the Ministry of Health.
2. Public Health Services and Technical Assistance: NUPLAM provides quality control services for medicines and foods to public and private entities, and offers technical assistance to public or private law bodies. It also collaborates with federal, state, and municipal bodies in public health areas.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

NUPLAM is a public university-affiliated industrial pharmaceutical laboratory that manufactures and supplies ANVISA-registered oral solid medications (Fingolimod 0.5 mg capsules and Olanzapine 5/10 mg coated tablets) to Brazil's Unified Health System (SUS). Beyond manufacturing, it operates a Quality Control Laboratory, a Pharmacovigilance service, equipment reservation, technical visits, and academic training programs in partnership with UFRN.

Product overview

NUPLAM is an official pharmaceutical industrial laboratory of the Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte (UFRN). It operates two ANVISA-registered pharmaceutical products: Cloridrato de Fingolimode 0,5 mg capsules (for multiple sclerosis treatment) and Olanzapina 5 and 10 mg coated tablets (for neurological conditions). The facility provides laboratory equipment reservation services (including HPLC, GC, NIR, Karl Fischer, DSC, climate chambers), pharmacovigilance adverse event notification services, technical visits for undergraduate students, a pharmaceutical industry vacation school program (Escola de Férias), and undergraduate internship and scholarship programs across multiple disciplines.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Cloridrato de Fingolimode 0.5 mg cápsulas

Named customers3 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature1 record

Partnerships

Four partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• EMScoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerEMS is Brazil's largest pharmaceutical company and a partner in Parcerias para o Desenvolvimento Produtivo (PDPs) with NUPLAM. EMS hosted institutional visits as part of NUPLAM's partnership development activities, discussing joint initiatives related to pharmaceutical product development.
• Instituto Metrópole Digital (IMD/UFRN)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerIMD/UFRN partners with NUPLAM on a technology residency project that connects IT students with laboratory staff to develop scientific and technological systems and foster innovation within NUPLAM's daily operations.
• Fundação Ezequiel Dias (FUNED)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerFUNED is a public pharmaceutical laboratory in Belo Horizonte, MG. NUPLAM's director and vice-director conducted institutional visits to FUNED to exchange experiences on public pharmaceutical manufacturing, tour industrial facilities, and discuss cooperation opportunities.
• Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte (UFRN)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerNUPLAM is an integral supplementary unit of UFRN, created by university rector's portaria and defined in UFRN's statutes as an organ linked to the Rector's Office. UFRN provides the institutional framework, students, faculty, and research programs that NUPLAM relies on for teaching, research, and extension activities.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves9 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Fundação Ezequiel Dias (FUNED): Public pharmaceutical laboratory in Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, that produces injectables, vaccines, and serums for the Brazilian public health system. FUNED is the closest operational peer to NUPLAM — both are state/federal-linked official labs serving SUS under similar regulatory and procurement frameworks, and NUPLAM has already conducted institutional knowledge exchanges with FUNED.
• LAFEPE (Laboratório Farmacêutico do Estado de Pernambuco): State-owned pharmaceutical laboratory in Pernambuco that manufactures essential medicines for SUS. LAFEPE operates under the same official-laboratory model as NUPLAM, supplying public health programs with basic and specialty formulations through government procurement.
• Farmanguinhos (Fiocruz): The pharmaceutical laboratory of the Oswaldo Cruz Foundation (Fiocruz), one of the largest official pharmaceutical manufacturers in Brazil and a major producer of ARVs and other strategic medicines for SUS. Farmanguinhos shares NUPLAM's university-adjacent (federal scientific institution) public-production model, but at materially larger scale.
• Bahiafarma (Fundação Baiana de Pesquisa Científica e Desenvolvimento Tecnológico, Fornecimento e Distribuição de Medicamentos): Public pharmaceutical laboratory of the State of Bahia that produces and distributes medications for the public health system. Bahiafarma follows the same state-linked official-lab model as NUPLAM, supplying SUS with finished dosage forms under government contracts.

Broad incumbents

• EMS: Brazil's largest pharmaceutical company and an active PDP partner with NUPLAM. EMS operates across the full pharmaceutical value chain at national scale, making it a broad incumbent that intersects with NUPLAM both as a partner in joint development and as an indirect competitor for SUS supply contracts.
• Laboratório Cristália: Major Brazilian pharmaceutical manufacturer with strong presence in hospital, anesthetic, and specialty medications supplied to SUS. Cristália is comparable as a domestic Brazilian producer competing for public pharmaceutical procurement, but operates as a private-sector incumbent with broader commercial reach.
• Eurofarma: One of the largest Brazilian pharmaceutical companies with diversified branded and generic portfolios, including significant participation in public-sector tenders. Eurofarma is a broad incumbent in the same finished-dosage-form category as NUPLAM, but at commercial scale and with international operations.
• Aché Laboratórios: Leading Brazilian pharmaceutical company with a broad prescription and OTC portfolio, including participation in SUS-related supply. Aché is a broad incumbent comparable in finished-dosage-form manufacturing and Brazilian market presence, though privately held and far larger than NUPLAM.

Regional players

• Instituto de Tecnologia em Fármacos (Farmanguinhos / Fiocruz): Regional alternative reference: Fiocruz's pharmaceutical complex in Rio de Janeiro. While Farmanguinhos is a direct peer, the broader Fiocruz system represents a regional public-pharma ecosystem comparable to NUPLAM's role within UFRN, focused on serving specific public health priorities at sub-national level.

Others

• Nortec Química: Brazilian pharmaceutical chemical supplier listed as a partner on NUPLAM's official website. Nortec is an adjacent supplier rather than a direct competitor, providing chemical inputs that support NUPLAM's manufacturing operations and making it an ecosystem participant in the same pharmaceutical value chain.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/nuplamufrn

Compliance1 record

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about Nuplam UFRN