A researcher and pharmaceutical expert, Dr Margaret Ilomuanya, has argued that Nigeria’s journey towards pharmaceutical self-sufficiency and global competitiveness must be driven by robust research and innovation. She stressed that if the industry is to develop, the country must prioritise moving discoveries from Nigerian laboratories to the global market.
The associate professor of pharmaceutics and pharmaceutical technology at the University of Lagos made this point recently in her keynote address at the 28th Annual Conference of the Association of Industrial Pharmacists of Nigeria (NAIP). She noted in particular that transforming pharmaceutical research into market-ready products is the critical gap Nigeria must urgently close.
Delivering her presentation titled “Scale, Innovate, and Transform: Bridging the Gap from Nigerian Labs to Global Markets”, Ilomuanya challenged stakeholders across government, academia, and industry to rethink the role of local research in the nation’s development agenda.
“Our laboratories are bursting with potential,” she said, “but discoveries that should be saving lives around the world are stuck on the shelves due to a failure to scale, structure, and strategically support innovation.”
According to the UNILAG don, Nigeria’s pharmaceutical market was valued at $2.8 billion in 2023 and is projected to grow to $4.2 billion by 2028. Yet the country still imports 70 per cent of its medicines, resulting in an annual foreign exchange burden exceeding $3 billion. She explained that although local manufacturers have the capacity to meet up to 75 per cent of domestic demand, actual utilisation remains below 18.5 per cent – a situation she described as unacceptable.
To tackle this, she recalled that the Nigerian government has set an ambitious target of achieving 70 per cent local drug production by 2030 under Executive Order 003. This vision, she added, is being supported by the Presidential Initiative for Unlocking the Healthcare Value Chain (PVAC), which is driving a $5 billion investment pipeline across 70 bankable pharmaceutical projects.
The erudite expert emphasised that while institutions such as the National Institute for Pharmaceutical Research and Development (NIPRD), the University of Lagos, the University of Nigeria Nsukka, and Ahmadu Bello University are conducting world-class research, there remains a significant disconnect between laboratory innovation and industrial application.
She pointed to successes such as World Health Organisation (WHO)-prequalified antimalarial compounds, standardised herbal medicine research, and advanced clinical trials as evidence of Nigeria’s scientific capacity. “The transformation lies in closing the gap between discovery and distribution,” she said. “If our research is not saving lives or generating economic value, then we haven’t truly unlocked its potential.”
Ilomuanya also highlighted examples of public-private partnerships helping to bridge this gap, including collaborations with the U.S. Pharmacopeial Convention, Siemens Healthineers, Moderna, and Empower Swiss Geneva. She added that the Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority’s Healthcare Expansion Programme is investing in ten world-class hospitals across the country’s six geopolitical zones, building infrastructure and regulatory frameworks to position Nigeria as a credible regional pharmaceutical powerhouse.
Highlighting the role of universities in developing Nigeria’s pharmaceutical industry, she commended institutions such as the University of Ibadan, Obafemi Awolowo University, and the University of Lagos for their contributions to global pharmaceutical innovation. She stressed the importance of aligning education with industry needs, calling for more professional development, exchange programmes, and hands-on industrial training.
According to her, over 4,000 pharmaceutical professionals are trained annually through improved curriculum design and industry-academic partnerships, while more than 500 researchers trained by NIPRD now work globally – evidence, she said, of Nigeria’s exportable talent.
She, however, identified major obstacles hindering scaling and innovation in the sector, including infrastructure deficits, regulatory delays, lack of access to finance for small manufacturers, and global market entry barriers.
Nevertheless, she noted encouraging progress. One such indicator, she said, is the effort by the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) to implement internationally recognised guidelines and pursue Pharmaceutical Inspection Co-operation Scheme (PIC/S) certification, thereby improving global compliance.
“Without regulatory excellence, we cannot compete internationally. We must meet international benchmarks to earn international trust,” she emphasised.
Ilomuanya further called on Nigeria to embrace biotechnology and digital transformation in pharmaceutical development, alongside increased investment in advanced therapeutics and data-driven innovation.
“We cannot afford to keep having conversations without commitment,” she insisted. “It is time to invest, collaborate, and execute. Let us move from potential to production, from research papers to real-world impact.”
For Nigeria to become a true player in the global pharmaceutical industry, she concluded, the country must begin to treat research not merely as an academic pursuit but as a national strategic asset.
