•As Emzor set to begin production of APIs in 2024

By Sola Ogundipe

The Federal government has been charged to prioritise support for local  pharmaceutical companies by promoting and enabling the local pharmaceutical manufacturing industry in Nigeria.

The call came as Emzor Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd.,  is set to pioneer manufacturing of Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients, APIs, in sub-Saharan Africa as from the first quarter of 2024, when the construction of its API plant is completed.

The plant is currently under construction at the company’s Shagamu plant in Ogun state  with the support of a 13.85 million Euros loan grant from the European Investment Bank, EIB.

Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients are active components that give  pharmaceutical drugs their therapeutic effect. The quality, purity, and stability of APIs can significantly impact the safety and efficacy of the final drug products. 

Currently, the bulk of APIs utilised by local pharmaceutical manufacturing companies in Nigeria are imported, but the initiative by Emzor to start local manufacturing of APIs is expected to boost the industry as well as increase the qualitative management of locally produced pharmaceutical products. 

The Founder/Chief Executive Officer of Emzor Pharmaceutical Industries, Dr. Stella Okoli, who made the call during a facility tour of the company’s pioneering API Project at its factory in Shagamu, Ogun State,  said it was appropriate for the government to do more in helping local manufacturers.

Okoli, whose company started local production of pharmaceuticals four decades ago said, “Government has a lot to do in supporting local manufacturers. It is a fact that the prosperity of the nation resides with local production.  This is how the dwindling economy can be successfully revived.  As a company, we are playing our part and we shall continue to do so.  “From day one, we have determined not to let our country down, we are here to do the right thing in the pharmaceutical industry, producing high-quality drugs. And we are advancing to the next level, by pioneering API manufacturing in Africa,” she noted said.

Chairman of Emzor Pharmaceutical Industries, Mr Emeka Okoli, said the main objective of the company’s API project is setting up a factory in Nigeria to produce Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients for antimalarial products.   He explained that the API plant which is currently under construction in the expansive Emzor Campus factory in Shagamu, Ogun State, and expected to be ready by February 2024, is dedicated to the production of antimalarial APIs initially via tech transfer in collaboration with a technical partner with a planned capacity of 400 metric tonnes annually. 

“At present, Emzor produces antimalarial FPPs and is targeting API production as part of its growth strategy, backward integration and supply chain security. Also, help in part pioneer the mass production of APIs in Africa, ensuring commodity security and access to quality products across the continent.

“Emzor has partnered with an Indian company, Mangalam Drugs & Organics Limited, a world-renowned WHO/FDA-approved producer of antimalarial APIs, intermediate and other speciality chemicals. Emzor has already signed an Agreement with Mangalam, who will advise and manage the implementation of the project as a tech transfer partner,” he said.

Arthur Delor, the Investment Officer, Project Finance Division, Corporate Finance and Global Activities Department of the European Investment  Bank, EIB, which has established a special fund for the growth of API manufacturing in Africa, described the API Project by Emzor as a new dawn in development and growth of Africa’s pharmaceutical industry.

Delor said, “The Emzor’s API Project is a trailblazer in Africa as well as a new dawn in the development of the pharmaceutical industry in the content. It is a great leap in the sector and the first of its kind in sub-Saharan Africa. It will ensure the production of high-quality products and their affordability in Africa. The API Project will indeed make a great impact and will resoundingly facilitate the development of standards in the industry.”

Expressing the EIB’s contribution to the project, Delor affirmed that it will support global development. “We believe that it is time for developing countries to start to be developed. Africa should be less dependent on importation, in this regard, local manufacturing is one of the best ways to take Africa out of its current challenges.

“Africa as a place should start to contribute to global development, not just to depend on others and our choice of Emzor is very appropriate to pioneer this project in Africa. Emzor is well established and well positioned to make Africa, especially Nigeria a hub of quality products and supply chain.

“Emzor has a legacy of efficiency and good standards. It is a pharmaceutical industry we believe and know with adequate facilities and resources to make a big change in Africa’s pharmaceutical development and growth.”

On his part, the CEO of API for Africa, APIFA, a non-profit organisation that promotes API production in Africa, APIFA, Frankline Keter, said that the Emzor API Project is an opportunity to achieve its main aim and objectives.

“At APIFA, our main aim is to facilitate the local production of APIs and other health products and technologies (HPTs) in sub-Sahara Africa. We do this by working with a multitude of critical stakeholders from the private sector, public sector, research institutes, and civil society, to address a major market challenge, the lack of not only API manufacturing capacity in sub-Sahara Africa but also affordable medicines. 

“It is a great privilege to witness this ceremony. This is a big deal in Africa, Emzor is setting the pace.  This project will not only boost African Continental Free Trade but also encourage as well as support local producers to invest.  What is left for us is to celebrate and congratulate ourselves for this great season in Africa.”

The Emzor Manufacturing Campus occupies a 60-hectare site in an industrial zone on the Lagos -Ibadan/Abeokuta Benin interchange in Shagamu,  Ogun State. It houses an Oral Solid Dosage (OSD) Plant,  Cephalosporin Plant,  Intravenous Fluids (IVF) Plant, Penicillin Plant,  Gas Plant and other support utilities. The factory at present, produces close to 20 billion tablets annually.