Pharma Expo Offers Opportunities for Partnerships, Growth– PMG-MAN
By Deji Adekunle
The Executive Secretary of the Pharmaceutical Manufacturing Group of the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (PMG-MAN), Pharm Frank Muoneme, has stated that the forthcoming Nigeria Pharma Manufacturers Expo will boost the local pharmaceutical manufacturing industry in Nigeria as it brings together over 50 participating companies from outside the country and offers opportunities for business partnerships and technology transfer.
Pharm Muoneme said this at the Lagos office of PMG-MAN on Tuesday, September 27, 2022, during a press conference to herald the expo which will hold at the The Haven, Ikeja, Lagos, from 18th to 19th of October, 2022.
Addressing journalists, Pharm Muoneme said the pharmaceutical manufacturing group has been advocating for 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 further on the importance of the forthcoming Expo, Managing Director of May & Baker and Chairman of the 6th Nigeria Pharma Manufacturers’ Expo, Pharm Patrick Ajah, added that Nigeria was chosen for the event this year because of the need to bring something big to West Africa, adding that but for COVID, the expo would have been held in 2020 and 2021. Fielding questions from journalists, Pharm Ajah reiterated PMG-MAN’s unalloyed commitment to strengthening the pharmaceutical manufacturing sector in the country. He observed 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.
While calling on government to create the enabling environment for local pharma manufacturers to be at their best, Head of Marketing, Fidson Pharmaceuticals, Friday Enaholo, said Nigerian pharmaceutical companies are bearing the brunt of the increase in the price of energy generation which has slowed the pace of their growth and expansion. He added that pharmaceutical manufacturers cannot afford to pass the brunt to consumers, as such a move would make the market uncompetitive while easily paving the way for foreign companies to snatch the local market.
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.
