The words of former CEO of Apple, Steve Jobs that innovation distinguishes between a leader and a follower sits well with Dr. Margaret Ilomuanya, a household name that rings bells of achievements and track-records in and outside the world of pharmacy and pharmaceutical studies. As she is an internationally recognized scholar with grants and awards to her credit, the university don has yet again broken the grounds for a great breakthrough in the health sector.

A GMP Laboratory facility built and funded by MEDAFRICA Foundation at the Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Lagos, was commissioned yesterday at a hybrid event themed “Academia/Industry Collaboration: A Case for Purpose Driven Research through Product Development in Line with GMP Specifications” at Old Great Hall, College of Medicine University of Lagos, Idi-Araba, Lagos.

GMP refers to Good Manufacturing Practice, a quality assurance system and set of guidelines used by manufacturing laboratories to ensure the purity and quality of their products. GMP covers manufacturing process and quality of products. The lab is the first of its kind in sub-Sahara Africa, with capacity to guarantee that all pharmaceutical products manufactured in Nigeria adhere to the highest quality standards before they are marketed for general use.

The groundbreaking ceremony that marked the first of its kind  domiciled in a university in sub-Saharan Africa, was funded by MedAfrica Foundation USA under the leadership of the principal investigator and Acting-Head of Department of Pharmaceutics and Pharmaceutical Technology, Dr. Margaret Ilomuanya.

The project commissioning was done by the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Lagos, Prof. Folasade Ogunsola; President of the Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria (PSN), Professor Cyril Odianose Usifoh, Prince Julius Adelusi-Adeluyi, Former Minister of Health .President and founder of MedAfrica Foundation USA, Mr. Marty Jeiven; Dean, Faculty of Pharmacy, Prof. Gloria Ayoola; Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Academic & Research), Prof. Bolanle Oboh; Executive Director of Emzor Group, Pharm. Uzoma Ezeoke; Registrar of PSN, Pharm. Ibrahim Ahmed; Pharm. Sir Ike Onyechi; Vice-Chancellor of Chrisland University, Prof. Chinedum Babalola; and other top dignitaries.

The keynote speakers are Prof. Olobayo Kunle of the National Institute for Pharmaceutical Research and Development (NIPRD); and Pharm. Kenneth Chinedu Onuegbu, National Chairman, Association of Industrial Pharmacists of Nigeria (NAIP).

In her opening remarks, Prof. Gloria Ayoola, said the inauguration of a maiden seminar series in the Department of Pharmaceutics and Pharmaceutical Technology and the official opening of the MedAfrica GMP Lab marks a significant milestone in the history of the Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Lagos. She said the GMP facility is proof of UNILAG’s commitment to bridging the gap between academic research and practical industry innovations.

“Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) is the backbone of the pharmaceutical industry,” she stated. “It ensures that products are consistently produced and controlled according to quality standards. This state-of-the-art laboratory will provide our students and researchers with the necessary tools and environment to engage in cutting-edge research, foster innovation, and uphold the highest standards of pharmaceutical manufacturing.”

The Dean further added that the GMP facility will equip graduates of pharmacy to be ready for the job market.

“This facility will enhance our curriculum and bridge the gap between theoretical knowledge and practical application,” Ayoola disclosed. “Our students will gain invaluable skills that are directly relevant to the industry – making them highly-competitive in a global market. Furthermore, this laboratory will serve as a hub for collaborative research, inviting partnerships from industry stakeholders, and fostering the culture of scientific innovation.”

UNILAG VC, Prof. Folasade Ogunsola, in her speech thanked the founder of Jeiven Pharmaceutical Consulting (USA), Marty Jeiven, for sponsoring the installation of the GMP facility in the Faculty of Pharmacy. She said the lab was funded by Jeiven’s MedAfrica Foundation at the cost of about $450,000 and that it will facilitate research on food, cosmetics, and pharmaceutical products.

“This GMP laboratory was set up under the MedAfrica Jeiven GMP brand and is valued at about $450,000,” VC Ogunsola revealed. “It is the first GMP manufacturing site to be domiciled within a university in Nigeria or in West Africa, and is only the third on the African continent. The impact of this lab is enormous as it will facilitate a direct route for novel drug development in the industry enroute to the Nigerian populace.”

Stating that Africa should be for Africans and Nigeria for Africa, the academic don stated that she was glad that the GMP lab is at home in UNILAG.

“Clinical trial drug candidates can be produced in this state-of-the-art facility for clinical trials in Africa,” she said. “The University of Lagos can therefore become a hub for educational research, manufacturing industry, and regulatory agencies. The facility was built to develop novel freeze-dried vaginal inserts for HIV/STI prevention – and when achieved, it will be the first time this will be happening on the continent.”

In his address, Marty Jeiven, went down history lane to revisit how the GMP lab came to be established in the University of Lagos and specifically highlighted the immense roles of Dr. Ilomuanya – through the Population Council in New York – in getting the facility approved for Nigeria. He also noted that he established MedAfrica Foundation to be able to fund Ilomuanya’s ambition for a GMP facility and that he remains the only donor to the foundation till date.

“One of her vital contributions [during her work at the Population Council in New York], was expressing interest in having a GMP facility inside a university,” Jeiven said via Zoom meeting. “Her vision to have a GMP was a marriage to my vision of assisting with one. And so, we began to consider what it would take to establish a GMP lab in UNILAG. I know it was not going to be easy, and Margaret knew; I knew that this would cost a little bit of money, and Margaret knew that too.”

Jeiven said he was the sole financier of MedAfrica and the major sponsor for the GMP lab in UNILAG. Considering the enormous fund and logistics it took to establish and get the facility running, he said he would consider the lab his legacy as he looks forward to seeing what it will do for Nigeria and Africa. He expressed thanks to Ilomuanya and the university management for working with lots of industry stakeholders to get the project off the ground.

Dr. Margaret Ilomuanya, the team lead and principal investigator for the GMP project in UNILAG, is an associate professor at the Department of Pharmaceutics and Pharmaceutical Technology. Expressing her excitement, she noted that “equivocally, I want to say that this is the first of its kind domiciled in a university in sub-Saharan Africa. There is no university in sub-Saharan Africa that can boast of a GMP-compliant facility. When you have a GMP facility within a citadel of learning like the University of Lagos, it means that all the bright minds are within a facility that is the bedrock for innovation.”

While acknowledging that academic and professional collaborations were key in getting the GMP Lab installed at the Faculty of Pharmacy in UNILAG, Ilomuanya highlighted the roles of major funders at making the project a success. She appreciated MedAfrica, MedAfrica Foundation, Jeiven Pharmaceuticals Incorporated in New Jersey, Fabtech, as well as Population Council in New York as the major collaborators.

In explaining the potential benefits of the GMP Lab to UNILAG and the pharmaceutical industry in Nigeria, Ilomuanya explained the immense benefits to Africa. According to her, the Faculty of Pharmacy will partner with pharmaceutical companies to research and create innovative medical products that will put Nigeria and Africa in the global limelight, adding that the facility will facilitate the production of healthcare products for Africa, by Africans, and from African institutions.

“Pharmaceutical industries can work with the academia to solve problems such as making medicines more bio-available, or taking herbal medicines to forms that can compete with conventional medicines. That is why this facility is here. This centre will definitely contribute to innovation – and innovation is what will drive the industry,” Ilomuanya stated.

She furthered that “So if we have an innovative product through collaboration with local industries, then it means that our industries can put the product in the Nigerian market, West African market, and sub-regional market. It also means that we can have innovative products that emanate from the University of Lagos that will go to the markets in Nigeria, Africa, and around the world.”

Ilomuanya also disclosed that she looked forward to the Faculty of Pharmacy in UNILAG partnering with other universities in the areas of pharmaceutical research and GMP Lab installation. She noted that several universities in the United States have the GMP facility installed for research and product manufacturing, and that Nigerian universities should also endeavour to do the same by collaborating with UNILAG.

Being a gathering of top dignitaries and stakeholders in the pharmaceutical industry and the academia, who graced the occasion physically are :Brigadier (Pharm) Stella Nkiru Ibeh, Managing Director of the Nigerian Army Drug Manufacturing Company (NADMACO), Pharm Babayemi Oyekunle,Chairman PSN Lagos State, Valentine C. Okelu, MD, NEIMETH INTERNATIONAL PHARMACEUTICALS PLC, and others. Some of the virtual attendees were, Vice Chancellor of Chrisland University Abeokuta, Prof. Chinedum Peace Babalola; Founder MEDAFRICA Foundation, Mr. Martin L. Jeiven, among others.

MEDAFRICA Foundation, from the United States of America, founded by Mr. Marty L. Jeiven, is responsible for setting up state-of-the-art GMP facilities and ensure knowledge and technology transfer is obtained through these facilities to bridge the gap between academia and industry in Sub-Saharan Africa. Mr. Marty L. Jeiven is the Founder and President of Jeiven Pharmaceutical Consulting, Inc., a firm supporting the pharma, biopharma, device, diagnostic, and dietary supplement industries worldwide since its founding in 1989.