On 3 November 2026, Indústrias Suavetex, a manufacturer of personal-care products based in Uberlândia, in the Brazilian state of Minas Gerais, filed a criminal complaint in São Paulo against seven people of the Cimed group, one of Brazil’s largest pharmaceutical companies. Among them is its CEO and controlling shareholder, João Adibe Marques. The complaint was first reported by the Metrópoles column of Tácio Lorran on 5 November, and the full court filing was described the same day by Daniel Castro on Notícias da TV.
Suavetex says it developed six oral-care products for a joint project with Cimed, sent the complete formulas so the products could be filed with the Brazilian health regulator, and then watched the same six products reach the market under a different Cimed brand, made by a different factory, without Suavetex. Cimed denies any wrongdoing and says the courts have repeatedly ruled against Suavetex in the civil proceedings between the two companies.
This article does not take a side on who is right. The complaint has not been examined by a judge, Cimed contests it, and the parts of the accusation that look weakest are listed below. The reason to read the story is different. Step by step, it shows what a manufacturer can give away before anything is signed, and how little it holds afterwards. That sequence is the same for a European producer negotiating with a Brazilian distributor. It is also, at every step, avoidable.
The full article follows the chronology, explains the Brazilian regulatory and legal mechanisms involved in plain language, sets out Cimed’s position, and ends with the questions a producer should answer before sending a formula anywhere.