Nigeria plans to establish 435 clinical trial centres by 2028

…targets $3.8bn in revenue

The federal government of Nigeria has announced plans to establish 435 clinical research centres across the country by 2028, with a goal of generating $3.8 billion in revenue from clinical trial activities.

Abdu Muktar, the national coordinator of the Presidential Unlocking Healthcare Value Chain Initiative, made this disclosure during an interactive session titled ‘Is the Market Ready for Increased Local Manufacturing of Medicines?’ at the ongoing Nigeria Economic Summit.

According to Science Direct, a clinical trial is a medical study in humans, typically, these studies are conducted to determine the efficacy and the safety of a drug or medical device.

Muktar stated that the establishment of these centres will require an investment of approximately $770 million, with the government already identifying the locations.

He informed that discussions are already ongoing with Contract Research Organisations (CROs) to ensure demand for these centres once they are established.

“We’ve done a business case that we just concluded with an organization called Purpose Africa. We are projecting to establish 435 clinical trial centers in Nigeria. It’s going to cost about $770 million to get that by 2028.

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“But what is interesting is the revenue that can potentially be generated from that and the number of jobs. In terms of revenue, we’re projecting to raise about $3.8 billion into the country from clinical trial activities.

“We’re talking to already the people who are demanding to have these centres established. So for $3.8 billion revenue, if you invest $770 million that means you’re potentially raising $5 million for one dollar that you invest,” the national coordinator said.

He also noted the progress made in genomic research, referring to the recent launch of a major international genomic centre in Ede, Osun State. The centre was inaugurated with genomic experts, including Kristen Happi and Francis Collins, former director of the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH) and leader of the Human Genome Project.

“We held extensive discussions on how Nigeria can become a global hub for genomics, leveraging the new centre in Ede as a foundation,” Muktar said.

During the session, Funke Falade, consultant, Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority (NSIA), enthused that clinical trial activities will increase over the next few years in Nigeria and Africa as a whole because there is some agitation within the international environment about the representation of Africans in clinical research and trials.

Falade also highlighted that the government of Nigeria has come up with a strong strategy for improving the clinical trial ecosystem.

She, however noted that the potential of the strategy dovetailing into drug discovery is still uncertain and will be dependent on the availability of domestic financing for preclinical research, because, “whoever pays for the science dictates the priorities.”