Nigeria eyes $11bn global bone marrow transplantation market

… As two patients complete successful procedures at LUTH

Nigeria’s growing expertise in bone marrow transplantation has positioned it to compete in the lucrative global market currently valued at over $11 billion.

Already, the Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH) has bolstered its capabilities to offer bone marrow transplant by assembling a multi-specialist team of experienced medical professionals and expanding its medical infrastructure.

In a programme that began last month in collaboration with the Sickle Cell Foundation Nigeria (SCFN), two patients with sickle cell anaemia successfully received bone marrow transplants at the hospital, Edamisan Temiye, a professor and chairman, Bone Transplant Team, LUTH, said.

The two patients incurred significant costs, including fees for finding a suitable stem cell donor and purchasing essential supplies that needed to be imported and approved by the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration (NAFDAC).

Yet, the hospital did not charge any cost for expert procedure delivery.

“In the US, doing a bone marrow transplant costs between $500,000 and $800,000. You can see how many people can afford that. So, that’s the reason why we need a lot of support. We have developed the expertise. But there are still so many things that we need. We do not want to scare anybody,” Wasiu Adeyemo, chief medical director, LUTH, said.

The hospital will perform the next set of procedures in January, 2025.

According to Temiye, earlier mentioned, one of the recipients has been discharged following a satisfactory outcome while the second patient would be discharged soon.

LUTH aims to create a local supply for the health market, contributing significantly to $1 billion annual expenditure on medical tourism which strains the Nigerian economy.

Nigeria is home to millions of people with blood disorders, including 4.3 million affected by sickle cell disease, the largest in the world.

About eight out of 100 infants die of sickle cell anaemia annually. Those with the means often seek this complex, expensive, and high-technology medical treatment in more developed countries such as India, China, Turkey, Australia, and US among others.

Read also: Hope for Nigeria’s 4.3m sickle cell patients as LUTH starts bone marrow transplant

As of 2015, it cost N25 million to cover the procedure, travel by air, feed and accommodate one Nigerian for about six months in any of the countries, according to SCFN.

The SCFN has facilitated the procedure for about 45 people in partnership with a transplant centre in Rome who were cured.

It projects that Nigeria could make the treatment more accessible to its citizens by developing a local bone marrow transplant procedure and building a supporting market for critical medical supplies.

This could significantly reduce costs, potentially bringing it down to around N5 million per individual.

According to Adeyemo, with the new reality set by the current economic hardship, it is doubtful that average Nigerians can access this procedure.

Significant barriers to accessing bone marrow transplantation in Nigeria can be attributed to limited availability, high costs and need for travel abroad.

This has resulted in inequitable access to healthcare, a financial burden on families, and reduced quality of life for patients.

Read also: Nigeria partners Turkey to tap $8.5trn healthcare market

With the LUTH programme, Ifeoma Okoye, professor of Radiology and director, the University of Nigeria Centre for Clinical Trials, said Nigerians can access life-saving treatment at reduced costs and get improved healthcare outcomes.

The procedure involves initial diagnosis, sourcing haematopoietic stem cells, donor selection and compatibility testing among others.

Donation of stem cells from identical siblings is usually encouraged due to excellent outcomes compared with unrelated donors.

As of July 2024, Nigeria reported 911 blood stem cell donors and cord blood units, according to data from World Marrow Donor Association.

“It’s not cheap anywhere in the world. Most of the materials we used in this particular transplant were imported. By the time people know that we are going to do about two or three transplants in LUTH, then they can invest in bringing materials that we need for transplants or can produce some locally. That will bring down the cost eventually,” Professor Temiye noted.