In English - Pharmaceutical industry experiments with Mexicans - El Universal

Héctor Avelino Ortiz, 22, earned 5,700 pesos (431 dollars) for testing two drugs. (Photo: JORGE RÍOS / EL UNIVERSAL )

Over 25,000 people in Mexico aged between 18 and 55 serve as guinea pigs for generic drug makers, according to information from the Federal Commission for Protection against Health Risks (Cofepris). 

Héctor Avelino Ortiz, 22, is one of them. He does not work neither study after he failed the exam to study architecture at the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) for the fifth time. 

"Every time more young people join this type of research. Half of us do not work or study. The truth is out there the situation is hard, and these research companies take good care of us. I see it as an opportunity to make an income", Héctor said. 

He got paid 2,500 pesos in the first test in which he participated and 3,200 in the second one, along with 26 others. Participants are supposed to take blood tests before taking the drugs and report any secondary effects to the pharmaceutical company. 

"Without a career or professional degree, you are offered 1,200 pesos a month to work six days a week, compared to what I make here in one day for giving my blood and time for research and taking meds," Héctor added. 

He explained that this has been his only income in the last four months. 

Alfonso Martín del Campo Laurents, clinical director and main researcher of Pharmometrica, the company that hired Héctor, said that the firm makes bioequivalence testing for generic drug manufacturers. 

"Each volunteer must wait two months to participate in a new study," Martín del Campo explained.