The Executive Secretary of the Pharmaceutical Manufacturing Group of the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria, Pharm. Frank Muoneme, has said the forthcoming Nigeria Pharma Manufacturers Expo will strengthen the fortunes of the local pharmaceutical manufacturing industry in Nigeria.
Muoneme, at a briefing to herald the expo, said the event will bring together over 50 participating companies from outside the country and offers opportunities for business partnerships and technology transfer.
He noted that the pharmaceutical manufacturing group has been advocating medicine security concept in Nigeria and beyond for the past 39 years, adding that the aspirations of PMG-MAN are not only centered on medicine security alone but also on national development.
He also said the group is working round the clock to reverse the trend that has seen the nation’s pharmaceutical industry depend on foreign supplies, especially raw materials like APIs for their survival.
According to Muoneme, for Nigeria to attain self-sufficiency in drug production, forums like the forthcoming pharma manufacturers’ expo are needed to unlock the real potentials of Nigeria which contributes about 60 percent of the pharmaceutical manufacturing output of the entire West Africa.
Speaking about the international significance of the forthcoming expo, the Managing Director of May & Baker and Chairman of the 6th Nigeria Pharma Manufacturers’ Expo, Pharm. Patrick Ajah, noted that Nigeria was chosen for the event this year because of the need to bring something big to West Africa.
Ajah reiterated PMG-MAN’s unalloyed commitment to strengthening the pharmaceutical manufacturing sector in the country.
He noted that, in spite of the harsh economic realities in Nigeria rearing their ugly heads in the forms of energy and forex crises, Nigerian pharma manufacturers have continued to be patriotic rather than pursue profitability. He added that a number of Nigerian pharmaceutical manufacturers, including May & Baker are also making commendable progress in the area of local vaccine production.
Tagged, “Advancing the Frontiers of Medicine Security in Nigeria, Expanding Local Pharma Manufacturing in the Era of AfCFTA,” the 6th Nigeria Pharma Manufacturers Expo is expected to be attended by all actors in the pharma manufacturing ecosystem, as it offers a rare opportunity for productive networking and B2B engagement amongst all actors, regulators, policy makers, professionals, ancillary companies, academia, students, development partners, bilateral organisations, researchers and NGOs.
