CEINFAR is driven by the demand from the pharmaceutical industry for the development of innovative medicines in partnership with the university and with lower investment risks, following the EMBRAPII model. The team that makes up the Embrapii CEINFAR Unit has extensive experience in drug discovery and development in partnership with the Pharma Industry, including the discovery and development of patented and marketed drugs. To foster innovation, the CEINFAR EMBRAPII Unit offers three main research platforms:

• Drug discovery, aiming at identifying new molecules (hit series and leads) with potential to treat unmet medical needs, being patentable and having commercialization prospects;
• Pre-clinical evaluation of pharmacologically promising molecules (or series of molecules) based on in vivo and in vivo tests with the selected molecule(s) aimed at evaluating efficacy and safety. The work involves the design of tests in the search for improvements that enhance the desired pharmacological effect, reduce unwanted effects and result in a greater probability of success in the commercialization of the new drug. CEINFAR can either use its established in vitro and in vivo models, or develop new models on demand; 
• Development of pharmaceutical forms with differentiated release mechanisms – involves the development of drug production processes using new technologies and the development of new materials and formulations that allow the drug to be released more effectively and safely in the body, with emphasis on new nano and microparticulate systems. The desired result is the development of stable formulations with bioavailability adjusted to therapeutic needs.

The proposal of the EMBRAPII CEINFAR Unit is to make available to the industry the skills of researchers and the structure of the laboratories of the Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences (FCF-USP) and the Institute of Biomedical Sciences (ICB-USP) of the University of São Paulo, centers of excellence in health research. The joint action of these two USP units allows not only a broader synergy with the industry, but, and above all, the realization of complex projects that involve cutting-edge technology and that require multidisciplinary integration and advanced project management. The CEINFAR team is coordinated by Humberto Ferraz, with vice-coordination by Luís Carlos de Souza Ferreira, in addition to project management by Lucio Freitas Junior and business coordination by Ricardo Yugue.