As Nigeria intensifies efforts to strengthen local production of vaccines, medicines and diagnostics, the National Institute for Pharmaceutical Research and Development (NIPRD) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Federal University Teaching Hospital, Lafia (FUTHL) to deepen collaboration in vaccine and drug research, development and clinical trials.
The partnership is expected to boost the country’s role in Africa’s pharmaceutical innovation landscape and advance ongoing national initiatives to localise manufacturing.
Speaking at the signing ceremony, FUTHL Chief Medical Director, Dr Ikrama Hassan, said the COVID-19 pandemic exposed Africa’s vulnerabilities and underscored the need to build resilient research and manufacturing systems.
He noted that Africa currently produces less than 10 per cent of the vaccines and medicines it needs. “We want to leverage the advantage that NIPRD has already developed so that in no distant time, Nigeria becomes one of the hubs, if not the most important hub for research on vaccines and drugs,” he said.
Hassan disclosed that at least 200 hospital staff would participate in the collaboration, adding that developing active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) locally would enable Nigeria to own critical intellectual property and strengthen future pandemic response.
Director-General of NIPRD, Dr Obi Adigwe, said the agreement aligns with the institute’s strategy of forging high-impact partnerships that accelerate pharmaceutical innovation and capacity building.
He noted that implementation of the MoU would include quarterly progress updates to the Minister of Health.
Adigwe revealed that NIPRD had secured £18 million from the European Union for Africa’s largest research and development initiative.
Under the MoU, FUTHL will also benefit from upcoming training programmes, including reserved slots for 50 to 100 Nigerian scientists at Stanford University in February 2026.
“The selection process will be competitive and widely publicised, but this MoU guarantees this organisation secured slots,” he said.
He added that the agreement would bolster clinical trials capacity, citing NIPRD’s leadership in Nigeria’s first fractional dosing COVID-19 vaccine trial, which will now be extended to FUTHL.
Adigwe also highlighted plans to advance phytomedicine research, noting Nasarawa State’s abundance of ethnomedicinal plants with strong commercial potential for women and youth.
He said combining his private-sector experience with Hassan’s stewardship in transitioning FUTHL from state to federal status would strengthen alignment and create pathways for commercialising research outputs.
