How do you approach managing legal aspects during periods of instability or crises, and how does your legal strategy align with the broader business strategy to ensure the organisation’s resilience?

My approach is to understand business needs in turbulent times, seeking to identify potential legal and compliance risks/opportunities, focusing on clear communications, with legal advice that is conveyed in an understandable way considering the different stakeholders. By collaborating closely with cross-functional teams, I prioritise understanding their operational challenges to ensure that decisions are taken considering the local regulation, the consistency across different jurisdictions, and in alignment with our business objectives.

I am also involved in drafting policies and procedures which are key processes to create predictability and support rapid decision-making while maintaining accountability and transparency within unseen scenarios.

For safeguarding the resilience of a company, it is vital to quickly identify potential legal contingencies and suggest practical mitigation strategies in a timely manner. To this end, the legal team should be involved early in business initiatives to take decisions that are both innovative and within legal boundaries.

What are the main cases or transactions that you have been involved in recently? 

In my role, I have led legal efforts in high-impact transactions, such as the IPO of Grupo Biotoscana (GBT) launched on July 25, 2017, at the Brazilian B3 Exchange; supporting the due diligence of Grupo Biotoscana for the sale of the control interest of 51,2% to the Canadian company Knight Therapeutics Inc. (closed in November 2019); supporting the tender offer process carried out in the Brazilian B3 Exchange for the acquisition of all outstanding Brazilian Depositary Receipts (BDRs) of Grupo Biotoscana (completed in August 2020); he acquisition of the product ExeloFFn® for Canada and Latin America (Territory), completed in May 2021. This included the transitional activities to transfer the product from Novartis to Knight within the Territory; and the international financing transaction of USD$ 38.5m. loan with the International Finance Corporation (“IFC”), closed on December 2022. 

What role does the legal department play in promoting and ensuring corporate social responsibility in your organisation? 

Knight is dedicated to provide life changing, innovative and affordable medicines for patients in Latin America and Canada and the process of launching a new product in each country is a big effort, that needs the support of the legal team since the kickoff.

Moreover, in the pharmaceutical industry, corporate social responsibility is deeply intertwined with public health, ethics, and regulatory compliance as we operate in a highly regulated environment. Knight Therapeutics Inc. is a public traded entity listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange, and thus is also subject to enhanced governance and compliance obligations

Considering that we operate in Latin America and Canada, with a diverse regulation and cultural landscape, these intertwined jurisdictions raise the need to ensure compliance with local laws as well as international standards, among which the sustainable practices are growing. In Knight, the legal team acts as a business partner for each department, providing advice so that the company can achieve its goals in relation to social and environmental matters.

Also, Knight is deeply committed to diversity and inclusion, aiming to cultivate a fulfilling workplace with strong representation of women, persons with disabilities, and visible minorities. The legal department plays a critical role in advancing this commitment by partnering with HR, compliance, and leadership teams.