On October 27-28, 2018, at the inaugural World Congress of Compounding in Las Vegas, NV, Compounding Pharmacist Vanessa Pinheiro will participate in the international workshop, “Compounding Around the World.” The panel will convene speakers from across the globe to present what the compounding landscape looks like in their home countries. Mrs. Pinheiro will speak about the compounding pharmacy landscape in her native country, Brazil. MEDISCA sat down to chat with Mrs. Pinheiro about her expertise and what she’s looking forward to sharing at the World Congress of Compounding.
“I believe that we have a lot to learn from Brazil, because today the country has more than 7,500 compounding pharmacies with very talented pharmacists at the helm. I intend to talk a little bit about the history and evolution of compounding in Brazil, the most popular niche markets we have there, regulations and much more.”
Mrs. Pinheiro has been working as a compounding pharmacist for 19 years. She graduated from the Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences at the Federal University of Juiz de Fora, Brazil in 1999 and received her Master’s degree in Product Development and Quality Control from the University of São Paulo. Since her graduation, Mrs. Pinheiro has held many roles in the compounding community. She was a professor of Pharmaceutical Sciences at the College of Pharmacy, Nove de Julho University (UNINOVE) and the Faculty of Medicine and Health of Juiz de Fora (SUPREMA) in Brazil.
“My academic role involved teaching the art of pharmacy compounding, cosmetology and the science of formulation development using classroom and laboratory instructional methodologies.”
Additionally, Mrs. Pinheiro was the owner of RX Pharmaceutica and Petfarma pharmacies in Brazil, where she was responsible for compounding, quality control of raw materials and final products, training pharmacists and technicians, and counseling patients. She was also a Surveyor and Standards Committee member of Brazil’s National Association of Compounding Pharmacists, a non-profit organization that oversees customized pharmaceutical preparations. She is also the author of a Veterinary formulary book.
She currently manages the on-site operations of LP3 Network’s Non-sterile and Sterile Compounding courses, held at their state-of-the-art facility in Aventura, FL. She also works as a consultant for MEDSICA Network’s Technical Support Services Department providing training to the sales representative team and helping formulation chemists develop and review formulas according to customers’ requests.
Mrs. Pinheiro’s compounding specialty areas include: Non-sterile and Veterinary compounding, dermatology and cosmetics, formula development, and quality control of raw materials and finished products.
Veterinary compounding has always been her passion. When Mrs. Pinheiro opened her own specialized veterinary compounding pharmacy, she had the opportunity to work closely with veterinarians and identify the typical issues they encountered with their patients. She learned an immense amount from them, and every case became an inspiration to help her develop new formulas to treat various animals.
“I was always focused on trying to improve the compliance of my patients since I started working as a veterinary compounding pharmacist. As you know, sometimes it is not easy to deal with animals and one of my challenges was to develop a base formula and a mold that could solve compliance issues. I was able to develop my own bases and customized bone- fish- and carrot-shaped molds which allowed me to meet my goal. 95% of my dog patients showed compliance to the chewable treats I dispensed – and several years ago I got the chance to bring this technology to MEDISCA, who now offers it to their customers.”
During the panel, Mrs. Pinheiro will discuss her experiences as a veterinary compounding pharmacist in Brazil. Please join Mrs. Pinheiro and colleagues at the Compounding Around the World session at the upcoming World Congress of Compounding.