Hugo Sigman (born 30 September 1944) is an Argentine

psychiatrist A psychiatrist is a physician who specializes in psychiatry. Psychiatrists are physicians who evaluate patients to determine whether their symptoms are the result of a physical illness, a combination of physical and mental ailments or strictly ...

and business mogul. He is the founder, CEO and—jointly with his wife,

biochemist Biochemists are scientists who are trained in biochemistry. They study chemical processes and chemical transformations in living organisms. Biochemists study DNA, proteins and Cell (biology), cell parts. The word "biochemist" is a portmanteau of ...

Silvia Gold—the sole owner of Grupo Insud, a business conglomerate with a presence in the fields of

pharmaceuticals Medication (also called medicament, medicine, pharmaceutical drug, medicinal product, medicinal drug or simply drug) is a drug used to diagnose, cure, treat, or prevent disease. Drug therapy ( pharmacotherapy) is an important part of the ...

agroforestry Agroforestry (also known as agro-sylviculture or forest farming) is a land use management system that integrates trees with crops or pasture. It combines agricultural and forestry technologies. As a polyculture system, an agroforestry system c ...

, cinema, nature and design.

Early life, education and medical career

Hugo Sigman was born in

Buenos Aires, Argentina Buenos Aires, controlled by the government of the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Argentina. It is located on the southwest of the Río de la Plata. Buenos Aires is classified as an Alpha− glob ...

on 30 September 1944. He graduated from the medical school of the

University of Buenos Aires The University of Buenos Aires (, UBA) is a public university, public research university in Buenos Aires, Argentina. It is the second-oldest university in the country, and the largest university of the country by enrollment. Established in 1821 ...

in 1969. The same year, he finished his studies in

social psychology Social psychology is the methodical study of how thoughts, feelings, and behaviors are influenced by the actual, imagined, or implied presence of others. Although studying many of the same substantive topics as its counterpart in the field ...

at the university under

Enrique Pichon-Rivière Enrique Pichon-Rivière (June 25, 1907 – July 16, 1977) was a Swiss-born Argentine psychiatrist, considered one of the introducers of group psychoanalysis in Argentina and generator of the group theory known as ''Grupo operativo'' (Operative ...

. Sigman completed his residency at Aráoz Alfaro Hospital in

Buenos Aires Province Buenos Aires, officially the Buenos Aires Province, is the largest and most populous Provinces of Argentina, Argentine province. It takes its name from the city of Buenos Aires, the capital of the country, which used to be part of the province an ...

. In 1970, he joined the Psychiatry Department of Lanús Hospital as a

resident Resident may refer to: People and functions * Resident minister, a representative of a government in a foreign country * Resident (medicine), a stage of postgraduate medical training * Resident (pharmacy), a stage of postgraduate pharmaceut ...

. He continued his career, first as chief resident, and then as founder and director of the hospital's Psychiatric Emergency Unit. In 1976, Sigman fled to

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

following the Argentine coup d'état. He worked in the Psychiatry Department of the Hospital Clínic de Barcelona.

Business career

In 1978, Sigman and his wife, biochemist Silvia Gold, received a loan of

US$ The United States dollar (Currency symbol, symbol: Dollar sign, $; ISO 4217, currency code: USD) is the official currency of the United States and International use of the U.S. dollar, several other countries. The Coinage Act of 1792 introdu ...

400,000 from his father-in-law, Roberto Gold, a businessman in the pharmaceutical industry in Argentina. The couple co-founded Chemo Group, a chemical-pharmaceutical company, and the first company of what would later become Grupo Insud. In the 1980s, Sigman and his family moved back to

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

, where he developed his existing businesses and expanded to other industries.

Life sciences

Sigman's professional career relies especially on

human science Human science (or human sciences in the plural) studies the philosophical, biological, social, justice, and cultural aspects of human life. Human science aims to expand the understanding of the human world through a broad interdisciplinary approa ...

, where, through Grupo Insud (also known as Insud Pharma), he has developed three companies: Chemo, a company that produces active pharmaceutical ingredients and finished dosage forms to 1,200 pharmaceutical companies around the world, with 15 manufacturing R&D centers; Exeltis, a company that offers female health products in more than 40 countries; and mAbxience, a biotech company created in 2008, which produces biosimilar medicine. In 2011, Sigman founded, together with other renowned

biotechnology Biotechnology is a multidisciplinary field that involves the integration of natural sciences and Engineering Science, engineering sciences in order to achieve the application of organisms and parts thereof for products and services. Specialists ...

companies, the Argentine Chamber of Biotechnology, with the aim of strengthening public-private collaboration in biotechnology and encouraging its development in the region. The Public-Private Consortium for Research and Development of Innovative Oncology Therapies developed the first therapeutic vaccine against

lung cancer Lung cancer, also known as lung carcinoma, is a malignant tumor that begins in the lung. Lung cancer is caused by genetic damage to the DNA of cells in the airways, often caused by cigarette smoking or inhaling damaging chemicals. Damaged ...

, Racotumomab (Vaxira), introduced in 2013. Inspired by that model, other partnerships were made with institutions like the University of Buenos Aires,

National University of Quilmes The National University of Quilmes (, UNQui) is an Argentine national university and the most important one in the Quilmes area. The National University of Quilmes was founded on October 23, 1989. Located in Bernal ( Quilmes County), it serves th ...

National University of General San Martín The National University of General San Martín (, UNSAM) is an Argentine public university whose main campus is located in the city of San Martín, Buenos Aires Province. The university was established in 1992, when the executive approved law n ...

, Roffo and Garrahan Hospitals, Buenos Aires National Academy of Medicine, and several foreign universities. Approximately 250 researchers work at the partnerships supported by Grupo Insud, doing basic and applied research; 100 of them are dedicated to the development of products for treating cancer.

Agribusiness

In 1998, he started

agricultural Agriculture encompasses crop and livestock production, aquaculture, and forestry for food and non-food products. Agriculture was a key factor in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created f ...

and

forestry Forestry is the science and craft of creating, managing, planting, using, conserving and repairing forests and woodlands for associated resources for human and Natural environment, environmental benefits. Forestry is practiced in plantations and ...

activities in different locations of Argentina, focused on genetic improvement and

sustainable production Sustainability is a social goal for people to co-exist on Earth over a long period of time. Definitions of this term are disputed and have varied with literature, context, and time. Sustainability usually has three dimensions (or pillars): env ...

, with the companies Garruchos, devoted to farming and cattle-raising; Pomera, a forestry company; and Cabaña Los Murmullos, a

cattle ranch A ranch (from /Mexican Spanish) is an area of landscape, land, including various structures, given primarily to ranching, the practice of raising grazing livestock such as cattle and sheep. It is a subtype of farm. These terms are most often ap ...

. Sigman is also a

shareholder A shareholder (in the United States often referred to as stockholder) of corporate stock refers to an individual or legal entity (such as another corporation, a body politic, a trust or partnership) that is registered by the corporation as the ...

of Bioceres, an Argentine biotechnology company focused on agricultural production. The company developed a gene that enables the production of wheat, corn and soybeans resistant to

drought A drought is a period of drier-than-normal conditions.Douville, H., K. Raghavan, J. Renwick, R.P. Allan, P.A. Arias, M. Barlow, R. Cerezo-Mota, A. Cherchi, T.Y. Gan, J. Gergis, D. Jiang, A. Khan, W. Pokam Mba, D. Rosenfeld, J. Tierney, ...

and

soil salinity Soil salinity is the salt (chemistry), salt content in the soil; the process of increasing the salt content is known as salinization (also called salination in American and British English spelling differences, American English). Salts occur nat ...

, and has licensed its products to the US, France and India. This wheat is called HB4 and is highly toxic to humans and soil and highly GMO. In Argentina's

veterinary Veterinary medicine is the branch of medicine that deals with the prevention, management, diagnosis, and treatment of disease, disorder, and injury in non-human animals. The scope of veterinary medicine is wide, covering all animal species, both ...

industry, Grupo Insud partnered with Biogénesis Bagó, an animal vaccine production company authorized by the government of China to build a pig factory farm, very harmful for the environment, in that country.

Communication and art

Sigman co-founded the

filmmaking Filmmaking or film production is the process by which a Film, motion picture is produced. Filmmaking involves a number of complex and discrete stages, beginning with an initial story, idea, or commission. Production then continues through screen ...

company Kramer & Sigman Films (K&S Films) with

Oscar Kramer Oscar Kramer (25 May 1935 – 7 April 2010) was an Argentine film producer. He was born in Buenos Aires. He worked in the cinema of Argentina when he was young. In the 1970s he lived in Antwerp, Belgium, where he worked in the diamond industr ...

in 2005. They had previously collaborated on the 2004 film '' El perro''. The company has produced the films '' On Probation'' (2005), '' Chronicle of an Escape'' (2006), '' Los Marziano'' (2010), ''The Last Elvis'' (2012), ''Seventh Floor'' (2013), '' Wild Tales'' (2014), '' The Clan'' (2015), '' The Summit'' (2017), and ''

Heroic Losers ''Heroic Losers'' () is a 2019 heist comedy-drama film co-written and directed by Sebastián Borensztein, based on the novel ''La noche de la Usina'' (''The Night of the Heroic Losers'') by Eduardo Sacheri, who also co-wrote the screenplay. It f ...

'' (2019). Through Grupo Insud, Sigman participates in cultural companies in Argentina and Spain such as the

Southern Cone The Southern Cone (, ) is a geographical and cultural subregion composed of the southernmost areas of South America, mostly south of the Tropic of Capricorn. Traditionally, it covers Argentina, Chile, and Uruguay, bounded on the west by the Pac ...

edition of '' Le Monde diplomatique'', the Latin American version of ''

The New York Review of Books ''The New York Review of Books'' (or ''NYREV'' or ''NYRB'') is a semi-monthly magazine with articles on literature, culture, economics, science and current affairs. Published in New York City, it is inspired by the idea that the discussion of ...

'', and Capital Intelectual, which includes a line of publications in Spain under the publishing brand Clave Intelectual. Between 2010 and 2013, he was a member of the Advisory Council of the National Fine Arts Museum of Argentina. He is a member of the Board of Patronage of the

Museo Reina Sofía Museo may refer to: * ''Museum'' (2018 film), Mexican drama heist film * Museo station, station on line 1 of the Naples Metro {{disambiguation ...

Madrid Madrid ( ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in Spain, most populous municipality of Spain. It has almost 3.5 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 7 million. It i ...

, Spain. Additionally, Grupo Insud's Buenos Aires headquarters, the recently restored Díaz Vélez Palace built in 1907, has won several architectural awards and has been declared a protected heritage site of Buenos Aires.

Mundo Sano foundation

Sigman's father-in-law, Roberto Gold, created the non-profit Mundo Sano Foundation in 1993. By the late 1990s, Silvia Gold chaired the foundation, which has funded projects in Argentina, Spain and

Ethiopia Ethiopia, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country located in the Horn of Africa region of East Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the north, Djibouti to the northeast, Somalia to the east, Ken ...

addressing

neglected tropical diseases Neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) are a diverse group of tropical infections that are common in low-income populations in developing regions of Africa, Asia, and the Americas. They are caused by a variety of pathogens, such as viruses, bacteri ...

(NTDs) including Chagas,

dengue Dengue fever is a mosquito-borne disease caused by dengue virus, prevalent in tropical and subtropical areas. Asymptomatic infections are uncommon, mild cases happen frequently; if symptoms appear, they typically begin 3 to 14 days after ...

and

soil-transmitted helminth The soil-transmitted helminths (also called geohelminths) are a group of intestinal parasites belonging to the phylum Nematoda that are transmitted primarily through contaminated soil. They are so called because they have a direct life cycle whic ...

Awards

* In 2008, he received a Diploma of Merit at the Konex Awards, in the Most Innovative Entrepreneur category. * In 2009, Sigman took part in the 15th Conference of the Argentine Industrial Union, and was a guest speaker representing Argentina at

Harvard Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher lear ...

and Columbia universities. * In 2011, jointly with his wife, he received an award from the ('Association of Business Directors'; ADE) in the Agroindustry category. * In September 2011, Sigman was a guest speaker at the

United Nations Conference on Trade and Development UN Trade and Development (UNCTAD) is an intergovernmental organization within the United Nations Secretariat that promotes the interests of developing countries in world trade. It was established in 1964 by the United Nations General Assembl ...

held in

Geneva Geneva ( , ; ) ; ; . is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland and the most populous in French-speaking Romandy. Situated in the southwest of the country, where the Rhône exits Lake Geneva, it is the ca ...

, Switzerland. His lecture was about the manufacturing of vaccines and biotechnological products in Argentina. * In 2012, he was a speaker at the Global Investment Forum, organized by the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...

Qatar Qatar, officially the State of Qatar, is a country in West Asia. It occupies the Geography of Qatar, Qatar Peninsula on the northeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in the Middle East; it shares Qatar–Saudi Arabia border, its sole land b ...

. He presented an investment model based on partnerships with other pharmaceutical companies and public entities. * In 2013, at the 11th International Symposium on AIDS organized by Fundación Huésped, he was recognized for the achievements of the Research, Development and Innovation Consortium presented by his companies. * In 2013, the Endeavor foundation named him a "Model Entrepreneur" for his values and track record. * In 2015, Sigman received an Entrepreneur of the Year Award from the

Ernst & Young EY, previously known as Ernst & Young, is a multinational corporation, multinational professional services partnership, network based in London, United Kingdom. Along with Deloitte, KPMG and PwC, it is one of the Big Four accounting firms, Big F ...

consulting firm in Argentina. * In 2018, he received his second Diploma of Merit at the Konex Awards, this time in the "Best Entrepreneurs in Industry" category. * In 2019, he was recognized for his

agribusiness Agribusiness is the industry, enterprises, and the field of study of value chains in agriculture and in the bio-economy, in which case it is also called bio-business or bio-enterprise. The primary goal of agribusiness is to maximize profit ...

career with a distinction from '' Clarin'' newspaper's Rural supplement during the 133rd Rural Exhibition.

Personal life

Sigman is married to biochemist Silvia Gold. Together, they were ranked the sixth wealthiest people in Argentina by ''

Forbes ''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine founded by B. C. Forbes in 1917. It has been owned by the Hong Kong–based investment group Integrated Whale Media Investments since 2014. Its chairman and editor-in-chief is Steve Forbes. The co ...

'' magazine in 2020, with a net worth of US$2 billion. Sigman has three sons. He is Jewish and a fan of the River Plate football club.