Read the Conversation
Conversation highlights:
- Argentina as a strategic global platform: Beyond human pharma and animal health, Argentina hosts one of Boehringer Ingelheim’s three global IT hubs and a Global Business Services center supporting the Americas, underscoring its structural relevance within the company’s global network.
- A significant innovation wave addressing unmet needs: Many launches planned in pulmonary fibrosis, cardiometabolic disease, and stroke, with oncology and immunology emerging later in the decade — anchored in earlier diagnosis and improved system sustainability.
- Stability as the foundation for long-term investment: Research-driven companies require predictability. Continued economic normalization and regulatory clarity are essential to expand clinical research and accelerate access to innovation.
- One Health and generational commitment: As a family-owned company, Boehringer Ingelheim operates with a long-term mindset, approaching human and animal health as interconnected components of public health.
- Partnerships, people, and digital transformation: Public-private collaboration in stroke management, a strong people-centered culture, and disciplined use of AI and advanced analytics are positioned as key drivers of sustainable healthcare evolution.
EF: What brought you back to your home country, and what goals have you set for yourself, leading Boehringer Ingelheim Argentina?
MC: After living and working in the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, and Chile — and collaborating across Latin America, Asia Pacific, Europe, the Middle East, and Africa — returning to Argentina was not the most obvious step. It was a deliberate decision.
Throughout my career, I have held international roles across both the pharmaceutical and technology industries, which gave me exposure to very different healthcare systems and operating models. Working across regions reinforced how policy, innovation, digital infrastructure, and access intersect in complex ways. Bringing that broader perspective back to Argentina felt both timely and meaningful.
This is also a pivotal moment for Boehringer Ingelheim in Argentina. We are preparing for a strong innovation wave, with many launches planned in the coming years. Ensuring that global innovation reaches Argentine patients — and that Argentina strengthens its relevance within the region — is both an opportunity and a responsibility.
Talent is central to that ambition. Argentina’s scientific and professional capabilities remain exceptional. My focus is to empower teams, elevate standards, and build leadership that outlasts any individual role.
Strategically, Argentina plays a broader role within Boehringer Ingelheim. Beyond our human pharma and animal health businesses, Buenos Aires hosts one of our global IT hubs and a Global Business Services center supporting the Americas. This reflects structural importance within the company’s global network.
As a family-owned organization with a long-term mindset, our commitment to Argentina is generational — not cyclical.
EF: What do you think are the key pillars Argentina should build on to attract more investment, and where do you see the main opportunities for growth?
MC: For research-driven companies, predictability is fundamental.
Innovation cycles span many years. Investment decisions are made with long-term horizons. Argentina has always had outstanding scientific talent and technical know-how. The critical enabler is stability — economic and regulatory.
Encouragingly, steps toward economic normalization are underway. Sustaining that trajectory will be decisive. When companies can plan five to seven years ahead with reasonable certainty, clinical research expands, access improves, and long-term projects become viable.
Investment follows confidence, and confidence follows stability.
If Argentina continues to strengthen that framework, it can reinforce its position as a regional hub for innovation and clinical research.
EF: You mentioned a strong launch pipeline. Could you expand the access strategy and therapeutic focus behind this portfolio?
MC: Our focus is on areas of high unmet need and high system impact.
Pulmonary fibrosis — particularly Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis IPF — remains a core priority. We are also deeply engaged in the cardio-renal and broader cardiometabolic space, where early intervention significantly changes long-term outcomes.
Stroke is another strategic area. It is time-sensitive and carries a heavy burden for patients, families, and healthcare systems. Improving awareness, diagnosis, and rapid response has a measurable impact on survival, disability, and sustainability.
Toward the end of the decade, oncology and immunology will also gain increasing relevance in our portfolio.
A central element of our strategy is early diagnosis. Detecting chronic kidney disease earlier, identifying stroke symptoms faster, or diagnosing pulmonary fibrosis at initial stages can dramatically reduce long-term system costs while improving patient quality of life.
Innovation must improve outcomes and support system sustainability simultaneously.
EF: How do you define sustainability within Boehringer Ingelheim?
MC: Sustainability is anchored in our purpose: transforming lives for generations.
That perspective requires thinking beyond short-term metrics. We operate across human pharma and animal health, and we approach both through a One Health lens. Healthier animals contribute directly to healthier populations — through zoonotic disease prevention, food safety, and companion animal wellbeing.
One Health is not a slogan. It reflects the interconnected nature of modern public health.
As a family-owned company, we invest with a generational mindset. That allows us to prioritize long-term impact, continuous innovation, and responsible growth.
EF: How do partnerships support this long-term vision in Argentina?
MC: Healthcare transformation requires collaboration.
Stroke management is a clear example. It demands coordination between public authorities, emergency systems, hospitals, academia, and industry.
Through initiatives such as the ESTC - Excellence Stroke Training Center, we work with universities such as UAI – Universidad Abierta Interamericana and healthcare institutions to train physicians, emergency teams, and caregivers. We collaborate with provincial governments — including Mendoza, Córdoba, Salta, Buenos Aires, and Ciudad de Buenos Aires — to implement best-practice care pathways.
In Salta, we are supporting initiatives to improve stroke access for native populations living far from major treatment centers.
These partnerships are structural. Improving stroke care benefits patients and strengthens system sustainability.
Innovation must reach beyond large urban centers to be meaningful.
EF: How do you approach talent and culture, and what keeps you at Boehringer Ingelheim?
MC: Culture is strategy in motion.
The only real competitive advantage a company has is its people. You can design the best portfolio or operating model, but without empowered and accountable teams, execution will fall short.
Boehringer Ingelheim genuinely invests in long-term development. My own path — from HR leadership to international roles and now General Manager — reflects that philosophy.
We give people clarity, autonomy, and the right tools. In return, we expect ownership and performance.
Being family-owned reinforces something important: trust and long-term relationships matter. That sense of continuity and purpose is what keeps me here.
EF: How are you approaching AI and digitalization?
MC: Digitalization is accelerating and will reshape how healthcare systems operate.
AI and advanced analytics help us generate insights faster, support earlier diagnosis, and improve decision-making. At the local level, we are already leveraging these tools to enhance analysis and planning.
Technology amplifies capability — it does not replace leadership.
The key is disciplined implementation, grounded in data integrity and human judgment.
EF: What is your final message to the sector?
MC: Argentina has the talent, clinical expertise, and scientific capacity to be a strong innovation hub in the region.
To fully unlock that potential, stability and predictability must continue to improve.
Clinical research and advanced therapies require long-term commitment. With the right conditions, Argentina can strengthen its position and ensure earlier access to innovation for patients.
We are committed to being a long-term partner in that evolution.
