May & Baker Nigeria Plc says plans are underway to launch seven new products in 2024 to drive organic growth, market share and new business development strategies.
Mr Patrick Ajah, the Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of the company, said this at the 2023 media luncheon on Thursday in Lagos.
Ajah said the company was on track to launch at least seven new products next year with several more in the pipeline, at different stages of registration or development.
He added that the company was making investments towards new product developments across a broad range of therapeutic areas.
“We will be implementing our new strategic direction next year because having looked at what is going on in the country and what we think the country is going to need, we are trying to plan ahead.
“And part of that will be making sure that we set in motion our ability to have more products to the list of the products that we have.
“I did mention we are going to launch seven. We actually have in our pipeline over 20 products but you know it’s not easy to register all of them with the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC).
“So, we already have like seven that is concluded that we can launch next year and a whole lot of other things.
“We are also trying to expand our operations, we are investing in new machineries.
“We are looking into other areas that we might be making investments on,” he said.
Ajah said the company’s herbal plant dedicated to the manufacturing of herbal products got a boost with the completion of NAFDAC registration of its bitter leaf capsule product – Roveda.
According to him, Roveda 600mg and Roveda 750mg will be added to the company’s bouquet of naturecare products in the first quarter of 2024.
“This in line with our commitment to partnering with our research institutions and encouraging local research and development, using our wealth of human and natural resources.
“I am also glad to announce that our Lily table water facility in our factory at Ota started commercial operations in December 2023, having been fully certified for full operations by NAFDAC two months ago,” Ajah said.
He said the new look Lily table water would be launched officially in January with a promise of a more improved quality.
“We have also built a new distribution centre in Abuja that is big enough to take care of the needs of our customers in the northern region, without always having to send trucks to the north when order is raised,” he added.
On biovaccies production facility, Ajah said the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) had been ratified by the Federal Government.
“Last year we reported that one of the challenges we had was the MoU signed with the Federal Government which had expired but fortunately by September last year, it was ratified by the Federal Execituve Council (FEC).
“So, what it meant was it reactivated the joint venture agreement that we had with the Federal Government.
“After that ratification by the FEC, we are trying to activate that MoU, that MoU was to say we can begin to supply the government with a certain percentage of the vaccines that they use for immunisation every year staggered in 15 per cent, 20 per cent and the like.
“But that had not happened but I will like to say that this year, the Federal Government gave us the first order as part of that 15 per cent and that is one of the things that have been delaying our kickstarting for the biovaccines project.
“But as we speak, some of the vaccines had been delivered in Abuja,” he said.
On operating environment in 2023, Ajah noted that 2023 had been one of the most challenging years in the operational historyas a country.
“The Central Bank of Nigeria’s Naira redesign and cash withdrawal limit created interruptions in economic operations and widespread hardship in the first two months of 2023.
“The policy created a liquidity crisis and coupled with the uncertainties surrounding the elections, economic activities were almost grounded to a halt,” he said.
He added that the removal of the fuel subsidy and switch to a unified market-reflective foreign exchange rate affected businesses.
“The harsh economic conditions orchestrated by these policies have not only crippled the operations of many small and medium pharmaceutical companies but has also forced some multinational pharmaceutical companies to shut down operations,” he said.
He, however, expressed optimism that 2024 would be a significant year for the company.
“2024 is going to be a significant year for our business as we launch our new strategic plan.
“I am, however, optimistic that with the motivation and team spirit I see and working with our partners and other stakeholders, we will continue the trajectory of achievements we have seen in the last three years,” Ajah said.
