Pharmacists have emphasized innovation as a key solution to address the challenges facing the pharmaceutical industry in Nigeria, which has resulted in continuous price increases of drugs.

During a symposium titled “Turning Innovation into Impactful Pharma-solutions” organized by the University of Lagos chapter of the Pharmaceutical Association of Nigeria Students, experts highlighted the importance of innovation in resolving the industry’s issues.

The event, part of the Annual Health Week Symposium, aimed to explore strategies for enhancing the pharmaceutical sector.

According to Adeshina Opanubi, Lead Consultant of Pharmalliance and keynote speaker, local innovation can significantly contribute to finding solutions to the industry’s problems.

Opanubi mentioned
, “Now that the exchange rate is getting out of hand, we need to look inward and see what we can do locally. What products are Indigenous to us – Nigeria and Africa, that we can begin to explore?

“What import substitution can we begin to do because that is the only way we can build a sustainable and robust local industry?

“More companies should begin to look into Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients because the less of that we import, the more it strengthens our local industry. Yes, innovation is the way out. “

The pharmacist further emphasized the need for young people to leverage innovations in creating values and ideas that can transform existing policies and bring about sustainable change

“The drivers of innovation include financial pressure to reduce costs, increase efficiency, increased competition, shorter product life cycles, value migration, demographic, social and market changes,

“Rising customer expectations regarding service and quality, and changing economy”, he highlighted.

The pharmacist also emphasized the necessity for young individuals to utilize innovations in creating values and ideas that have the potential to transform existing policies and drive sustainable change.

“The drivers of innovation include financial pressure to reduce costs, increase efficiency, increased competition, shorter product life cycles, value migration, demographic, social and market changes,

“Rising customer expectations regarding service and quality, and changing economy”, he stated.

According to Opanubi, innovation refers to any idea, product, or service that offers a new and improved way of doing something, providing economic and social advantages, solving real-world problems, and making daily life easier and more convenient for individuals.

He added, “It also involves the whole process from opportunity identification, ideation or invention, development, prototyping, production, marketing, and sales.”

The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control reports that Nigeria relies entirely on imported Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients (APIs), primarily sourced from China and India.

Professor Gloria Ayoola, Dean of the Faculty of Pharmacy at UNILAG, praised the pharmacy students for organizing a symposium focused on innovation, stating that the theme was both relevant and well-timed.

Ayoola highlighted, “Innovation is core to what we do as pharmacists. We aren’t just innovative, we produce drugs for treatment.

“We also innovate to improve patients’ outcomes, enhance healthcare delivery, and ultimately save lives. It is one thing to innovate, it is another to turn our innovation into practical and actionable pharma solutions.”

The don identified finance as one of the major problems they are facing in the pharma sector.

“We need finance to be able to take some of these innovations and turn them into pharma solutions, especially for the young ones who are coming into the profession. We just need to think out of the box to overcome our challenges”, the dean mentioned.

Also speaking, the Sub-Dean, Dr Foluke Ayeni stated, “So, for our students to be able to turn the current challenges we have in the pharmaceutical space into innovations that can better the pharmaceutical industry, is the reason why we are here today.

“One of the things that I think we need to do to get us out of the challenges of hikes in the cost of drugs is to get supportive roles played by the government and policymakers.

“This will enable the pharmaceutical industry ( drug manufacturers) to have access to the raw materials that they need in the manufacture of drugs so that they can keep prices down to the barest minimum for the patients.

“If we can have access to our raw materials and we can manufacture the majority of the medicines that we use, we will be able to keep prices down to the barest minimum. A very good case is what is happening now because of the increase in the exchange rate.”

She noted that the cost of most medications has skyrocketed, making them unaffordable for many individuals who struggle to access the medicines they need.

Ayeni further suggested, “But if we can manufacture our drugs locally, patients will have access to drugs at the right price.”

The President of the Pharmaceutical Association of Nigeria Students (PANS), UNILAG chapter, Oluwanifesimi Agbede, explained that the symposium is a yearly event held in pharmacy schools across the country, aimed at bringing students together to discuss a specific topic and inspire them to strive for excellence in their field.

She Stated, “We want to encourage pharmacy students that they can be very innovative and can come up with ideas that can improve the pharmaceutical industry.

“They can come up with any ideas that can improve existing policies. When it comes to emerging solutions, there are no bad ideas. So they should be innovative and come up with ideas that can solve the problem in the pharmaceutical sector.

“We have a lot of challenges in the health sector and so we are encouraging the pharmacy students to bring innovative solutions to these problems.”

Agbede urged the Federal Government to invest in domestic pharmaceutical production to curb the escalating costs of medications and make healthcare more accessible to Nigerians.

“The challenge that we have in the cost of drugs is usually because we import most of our drugs and then, those producing locally import the raw materials.

“So, the FG should invest in local manufacturing of both drugs and also Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients.

“We should have our APIs produced here because we knew that when there was a COVID-19 outbreak, there was a hike in the prices of drugs. After all, we were importing everything.

“So, we need to have a complete system of manufacturing from the raw materials to packaging materials. That way, we can have drugs at affordable prices and we aren’t affected by the fluctuation of the naira to the dollar”, she mentioned.