Global competitiveness Arduous task ahead of Nigeria’s Pharma companies

Over the years, the inability of Nigeria’s pharmaceutical companies to compete effectively in the global market is hinged on the fact that presently, the nation’s pharma industry cannot withstand the drugs armada from China and India which have better cost advantages.

The Indian pharmaceutical manufacturers supply 70 percent of drugs consumed locally and also export. Globally, India’s pharmaceutical industry is ranked 4th and 13th in terms of volume and value. Indian firms manufacture at far lower costs than their counterparts in developed countries. This is one half of its success as India spends $23 billion on Research and Development (R&D), has 160,348 researchers, 40,711 research articles, and 1,234 patents.

With the pharmaceutical industry considered an important economic segment of the economy, Nigeria’s pharma sector has installed capacity that only caters for about 50 to 75 percent of the nation’s drug needs.

Annually, millions of patients in resource-limited countries receive life-saving medicines that are purchased by or through international procurement agencies such as World Health Organisation (WHO), United Nations Children Fund (UNICEF), United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), UNITAID and the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB and Malaria.

With WHO Prequalification of Medicines Programme ensuring that selected medicines supplied by these agencies meet international standards of quality, safety and efficacy, the WHO and the Global Fund spends over N20 billion annually in procuring drugs for malaria, TB and AIDS intervention programmes in Nigeria from especially India and Brazil because no pharmaceutical firm in Nigeria is pre-qualified by WHO.

WHO pre-qualification is a prerequisite for any company that wants the WHO and other international agencies to buy their drugs through bulk purchase for distribution for health intervention programmes across the globe.

Prior to prequalification of drugs by WHO, manufacturers apply to WHO to have a product evaluated, providing comprehensive information about the product’s quality, safety, and efficacy.

Surprisingly, pharmaceutical firms in Nigeria are not currently in a position to participate in international tenders for medicines against the three pandemics that require World Health Organisation’s (WHO) prequalification.  This has been identified as a major constraint on the local supply of medicines, especially anti-retroviral (ARVs), anti-malarial and anti-tuberculosis agents.

Government support

In their quest for WHO-prequalification, Stella Okoli, group managing director, Emzor Pharmaceutical Industries limited, has reiterated the call for government’s support for pharmaceutical industries in the country.

She said though Federal Government had announced intervention fund for the sector, but it was yet reach the industries.

Okoli, who spoke at the unveiling of Emzor’s brand ambassador – ‘Maxwell: The wellocrat’ – observed that the WHO-prequalification is not beyond pharmaceutical 

industries in the country, but the companies must be encouraged to scale through the prequalification processes. Okoli noted that the pharmaceutical industry is strategic and must be encouraged to grow.

According to her, “The government must understand the industry, its intricacies and difficulties. It is a fact that the drugs we produce are first class and we will need intervention fund to upgrade. President Goodluck Jonathan announced intervention fund but they are not fought coming”

Okoli added that the government could encourage industries with facilities like soft loans, zero duties, and ensure factories are built at less cost, all in the bid to assist industries come up as soon as possible and Nigeria becoming a hub of pharmaceuticals in the globe.

On the wellness initiative, Muyiwa Kayode, head, brand management Emzor, said the company is driving the unlimited wellness, through its affordable and available quality products.

“Through wellocracy that Maxwell represents, we are bringing unlimited wellness to everybody,” Kayode hinted.

Way forward

Nigeria’s pharmaceutical industry has a long and arduous way to go. Experts believe that without clusters (centres of excellence) and well-funded research laboratories that churn patents protected by law, the industry’s global ambition is limited. If these enablers are put in place, it could induce local and foreign investment and partnership with foreign firms.

Industry analysts believe that the quest by Nigerian pharma firms to attain WHO prequalification status would not only ensure that locally manufactured pharmaceutical products in Nigeria gain international acceptance. The nation can then request that drugs donated to Nigeria are purchased locally.

This feat, they believe, would help reduce the challenges confronting the pharmaceutical sector, such as low capacity utilisation, high production cost, drug counterfeiting, and continued dependency on the importation of drugs and pharmaceutical inputs for drug production.

While this will help ensure Nigeria become self-sufficient in the manufacture of essential medicines, this feat will have multiplier effects on the Nigerian economy, leading to creation of thousands of jobs and more foreign exchange earnings for the country.

This, stakeholders believe, makes it expedient for the Federal Government to create a pharmaceutical development fund and a conducive environment that encourages higher investment and speedier delivery of drugs by local pharmaceutical manufacturers. This will also facilitate upgrading of local facilities and elevate the status of the industry.

ALEXANDER CHIEJINA