–As Pharmanews team visits to WWCVL
The Managing Director of World Wide Commercial Ventures Limited (WWCVL), Mr Naveen Pala, has lauded the Publisher of Pharmanews, Pharm. (Sir) Ifeanyi Atueyi, for his commitment and dedication towards the Pharmacy profession in the country and his tremendous roles to move the industry forward.
Speaking during a media tour of the company’s facility by Pharmanews three-man team, led by Sir Atueyi, in the company of Mr Patrick Iwelunmor, editor, and Mr Adebayo Oladejo, senior reporter, which took place at the weekend; Pala said Atueyi is a legend, mentor, leader and a rare gem, as he expressed the organisation's delight to receive the octogenarian.
“Having been publishing journal for a period of 44 years without interruption is something anyone in this sector should be proud of and your effort at ensuring that the younger ones are properly mentored and encouraged is also well appreciated. You always lead by example and your dedication to this sector is unquantifiable,” he said.
He continued, “We have also discovered that you are one of the few pharmacists alive who have attended the most PSN conferences, for 50 years uninterruptedly, which is quite unprecedented and historic, as well as your presence in virtually all major pharmacy-related gatherings”.
The WWCVL boss expressed delight that the Doyen of Pharmaceutical Journalism indeed honoured his invitation to pay the organisation a courtesy visit, after several attempts to get him which have been futile due to his busy schedule, adding that the motive for inviting him was to take his blessings as a force to reckon with in the country and also for him to see the ultra-modern edifice, with modern and world-class equipment that the company has in the country.
Speaking further, Pala who replaced Santosh Kumar as managing director, noted that the core business of the WWCVL is to engage in the distribution and marketing of healthcare products, ethical and generic pharmaceutical products, vaccines, medical equipment and consumables, over- the- counter products (OTC), and nutritional supplements to wholesale, retail, hospitals and institutions.
Speaking on the journey of WWCVL from 2002, 21 years ago, when the company was established in the country, Pala said it now has depots and warehouses in several major cities across the country, including Aba, Abuja, Benin, Enugu, Ibadan, Kaduna, Kano, Jos, Lagos, Onitsha, Port Harcourt, while it has suspended operations in about two places due to insecurity.
“We have about 1000 employees, and as a gender-balanced organisation, about 35 to 40 per cent of them are females. We also have about 40 companies dealing with us across the country”, he disclosed.
When asked whether the WWCVL takes over pharma companies and render them useless, Pala noted that the principal partners do their demand generation by going to the doctors, pharmacists and others through their sales representatives, medical representatives, managers and others, while the WWCVL handles importation and local buying, sales, distribution, warehousing, marketing services, regulatory support, employee hosting, and merchandising, adding that warehousing and transportation are big problems for many pharma companies in the country.
“So we create solutions to this and many more so that they focus more on the marketing aspect. While they create the demand, we fulfil the demand. It's just like a husband and wife relationship, where one would need the other to do well”, he explained.
While taking the Pharmanews delegation through the WWCVL warehouse, storage centres, cold rooms, and controlled drugs section, Pharm. Lucky Ubokor, the superintendent pharmacist of the company, disclosed that the facilities have biometric control and are built according to Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) standards.
Applauding the host for setting a good standard in the logistics and distribution sub-sector of the pharmaceutical industry, Atueyi reiterated that the pharma industry would thrive well if some of the bottlenecks that WWCVL is providing solution to are resolved.
Speaking further, Atueyi said that he was highly impressed with the world-class warehouses, cold rooms and other facilities he saw on display and hinted at a mutually beneficial collaboration between Pharmanews and World Wide Commercial Ventures, adding that everybody likes good things, and since the service is good, the future would be great.
Other top officials of WWCVL at the event were Venkatesan Krishnaswamy, sales director; Ananth Sigadapu, strategic initiative and business development manager; Pharm. Lucky Ubokor, superintendent pharmacist and head of regulatory; Pharm. Victor Adekanye, trade marketing manager; Pharm. Uduak Nwachukwu, quality assurance manager; and Pharm. Ekome Anwuli, senior regulatory affairs manager.
, Mr Naveen Pala, has lauded the Publisher of Pharmanews, Pharm. (S){kind=link}