Mayra Almaraz Rodriguez – Lupin

Something seemed remiss when then-28-year-old Mayra Almaraz Rodriguez became the associate legal director at the Mexican offices of the Indian-headquartered pharmaceutical giant Lupin in July 2022. The research and development department was doing its part to ascertain the company’s status as a leading generic brand pharmaceutical company. But, as she clarified to her new colleagues, it was all about implementing a new compliance culture. Regulatory compliance is necessary for any company immersed in life sciences, but the fact was that numerous people resigned months earlier from the legal and compliance departments, leaving behind a huge labor gap. Furthermore, much record-keeping and documentation remained in boxes.

Mayra Almaraz Rodriguez | Lupin | Associate Legal Director

In 2014, Lupin established its Mexican foothold, buying the local drug manufacturer Grin Laboratories to grow its presence and expand its portfolio, including ophthalmic products and brand generics.

While the bigger company prospered, Almaraz feared much potential would go unrealized if back-office operations weren’t bolstered.

Two years after she assumed her legal role as well as that of the youngest board member, Lupin’s  overall operations have become increasingly streamlined—in her words, “innovation functionality.”

Current projects include a neuroscience portfolio that’ll augment products that include high-level ophthalmological therapies, biosimilars,  anti-infectives, and more and everything, of course, needing the OK of the Mexican Secretary of Health.

After six months of assessing needs and vetting candidates, Almaraz assembled a six-person legal and compliance team that she says is perceived as a partner with other departments. Almaraz is also reasonably well-versed in technology. She’s implemented DiliTrust’s secure software for customizing and reviewing documentation, and that’s a responsibility that will likely only grow, what with Lupin expanding its operations throughout Latin America.

Tailor-made for her role

“My approach is to tailor-make the suit for each initiative,” the personable Almaraz tells Vanguard from her Mexico City office in June. “And every day is changing, as we have new regulations and rules to follow.”

She says reshaping corporate culture was a must, as sustainable growth in a high-risk, high-reward industry like the life sciences is only possible by complying with an expanding rulebook in Mexico and elsewhere in the hemisphere. She proudly explains that Lupin is now listed among Mexico’s most ethical companies and how it must retain that distinction as its geographical footprint grows as a result of the new compliance culture that the company has implemented.

While most Latin American countries have privacy laws, they’re not uniform to the European Union’s GDPR, and some have just been activated. GRIN’s compliance team must be extra vigilant. She assures that they’re up to the task of finding ways around challenging situations while adhering to the letters and spirit of the law in any jurisdiction.

“This is one of the most regulated industries,” Almaraz says. “I would dare say that is over-regulated, although it is the right thing to do because we are talking about the lives of patients. For this area, it is important not to be seen as stoppers but to be a business and guardian partner that offers ways to execute the strategy, stick to good practices and achieve most strategies.”

She says compliance has been easier since the post-pandemic replacement of the majority of  Lupin’s paper records and legacy technology with DiliTrust, which offers a diverse platform with practically every feature that lawyers and clients need. It’ll be an even bigger help once Lupin/GRIN optimizes its use of artificial intelligence—another DiliTrust feature for automating documents, monitoring intellectual property matters and contract revision.

“It’s not just a legal issue; it is about becoming a generalist,” she says. “The company has been growing in a big way every year, and we don’t want to be overtaken, so we have to keep innovating. We are expanding and defining new products, and for growth projection, we must have tools that allow us to carry out this growth.”

For Almaraz, enabling those processes is all part of being an in-house counsel in the life sciences, and that seems to be a role she was cut out to do, although her background held other interests, such as drama and arts.

Lifelong learner to be

In Mexico, however, a student is expected to commit to a particular profession at an early age, and that had Almaraz studying corporate law at the University of the Valley of Mexico (UVM), where she graduated in 2016. She furthered her credentials at the Technological University of Mexico (UNITEC), Law Free School (Escuela Libre de Derecho)  and the Autonomous Technological Institute of Mexico (ITAM), and by December, she expects to complete an English legal certification and International Diploma in High Specialty, in Ethics, Compliance and Bioethics in Health Care in the institute of law investigations of UNAM  and ICECOM.

“It was important to update myself in compliance,” she says. “Since I graduated (undergrad), there has not been a year in which I have not studied.”

That would seem to account for Almaraz achieving so much professionally at such a young age. She was just in her 20s when she headed corporate litigation at a private firm in México and, years later, entered the life sciences as legal manager of the British GlaxoSmithKline Mexican operation, where she spent 2018 until 2022 looking at issues for two business units: prescription pharma and over-the-counter including manufacturing sites & Vaccines franchise.

“It was a super-enriching experience to bring both worlds into one role because, at the global level, there was a joint venture between GSK and Pfizer for over-the-counter drugs,” she says.

She says her goal since she realized it was to be a corporate director at 30, and she beat that by two years upon joining Lupin in 2022. Now she’s reaching for something higher, perhaps as general counsel or a vice-presidential role for Latin America or even the entire Americas.

Such ambition can put one’s social life on hold while necessitating some way of unwinding. For the single Almaraz, that includes nurturing her four rescue dogs—“I’ll only adopt”—and spending time with family. and working out through CrossFit.

“I really enjoy doing CrossFit because it is when I can cleanse myself mentally,” says this Level 1 practitioner.

And a prime mental condition is a must in Almaraz’s position. As she reminds, it’s not just her career or, for that matter, the company’s bottom line that’s at stake.

“There’s an opportunity here to be a change factor in health care,” she says. “We also have a plan to take this company to the next level in all ways possible. We can’t do it without a lot of compliance.”