When we're sick, the doctor prescribes a pill, but we rarely think about how that drug got to us. The process begins with scientists studying a library of chemical compounds to choose the most suitable one to solve the problem while causing minimal side effects. To achieve this, they conduct an initial experiment on cells growing in a culture dish, then on animals, and finally on humans. This is the protocol that has been used for decades and has allowed us to have pharmacies full of solutions for almost every disease. But there have always been critical voices questioning whether animal experimentation was truly necessary. The reasons are primarily ethical, related to the unnecessary suffering of beings capable of feeling pain. Lately, this viewpoint has gained influence, and some countries have begun to take steps to eliminate these studies altogether.

2012-2013. Citizens picked up their medications at pharmacies, but many did so with the anguish of thinking what would happen if we stopped being able to buy them. Now we know that all of this could have been avoided.

Reig Jofre, a Catalan family-owned pharmaceutical company, earned €10.5 million last year, 11% more than the previous year, and posted revenues of €337 million, up 7%, driven by a strong external push, as almost €60 out of every €100 were generated abroad. This week, it inaugurated an expansion that doubles the production capacity of its Swedish subsidiary, Bioglan. And in 2025, it celebrated its first decade on the stock market, since its merger with the former Natraceutical. The listing, which has led to around 6,000 shareholders today, has been a positive experience, according to its CEO, Ignasi Biosca, representing the third generation of owners of the company, who receivesCompanies at its Sant Joan Despí plant, where they produce high-precision anesthetics for the Japanese market. The fact is that the stock market, he adds, has been a way to reinforce the group's commitment to innovation, especially technological innovation, and also to boost its shift from traditional chemical-based medicines to biotechnology-based medicines, which offer greater flexibility, compared to prescription drugs, which, after years of public pressure to lower their prices, are reported to be selling more than they are producing.