Nigeria’s dependence on imported drugs is running into 70 per cent, and it is becoming worrisome to critical stakeholders in the Health sector, like the chief operating officer, Sygen Pharmaceutical Limited (Sygen Pharma), Charles Ogunwuyi.
The reason for that is not far-fetched, as Nigeria has few Pharmaceutical manufacturing facilities compared to countries like India, Ogunwuyi revealed.
In India for instance, the CEO disclosed that, there are over 15,000 pharmaceutical manufacturing facilities that produce drugs for its populace, which is more than enough. “If you come to Africa, with over one billion people, we have about 350 pharmaceutical manufacturing companies and more than half of that figure operate in North Africa,” he explained.
Nigeria inclusive, cannot continue to depend on foreign countries for the wellness of its citizens, Ogunwuyi stated, adding that, “If there is anything we learn from the COVID-19 pandemic is that, each country should start to produce drugs locally to preserve the health and wellness of its citizen, otherwise, we are going to suffer when another pandemic strikes, because the developed Nations will sort for themselves first before thinking about Africa.”
To stop the importation of drugs, the CEO advised that there is need to formulate deliberate policy to drive the focus on local manufacturing and create a sustainable value chain in Nigeria.
This is the narrative the CEO of Sygen Pharmaceutical Limited (Sygen Pharma), is gearing his focus towards, with his pharmaceutical company.
To him, healthcare is key to tackling maternal, child mortality rate and to improve the poor indices in the country, adding that, there is no better place for one to do good than the health sector. “We are here to do good and do well, to improve the society and we are hoping that other pharmaceutical companies will follow suit,” he averred.
Ogunwuyi’s focus is to promote overall communal well-being for all Nigerians and that was the main reason he established the pharmaceutical company (in March 2019), at the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic. Up till now, he has invested over $15 million into the company and his next round is to invest another $15 million, over the next five years.
Led by a management team with extensive multinational and international work experience, Sygen Pharma is on a mission to develop and create access to high-quality medicines that yield successful outcomes and improve patients’ quality of life in the communities it operates.
The Genesis
To achieve that mission, Ogunwuyi, by December 2019, acquired the physical and brand asset of the former Nigerian German chemical plc. “So we moved from a start-up company to now owning a 77,000 square meter facility. This tied back to our commitment to not just being seen as an importation company, but also being committed to Nigeria, West Africa and the continent as a whole,” he stated.
Presently, Sygen Pharmaceutical’s product portfolio currently includes drugs in the following categories: antidiabetics, antipyretics, multivitamin, analgesic, antirheumatic, antifungal and antispasmodic, among others.
Speaking at the formal brand launch, Ogunwuyi, said: “Sygen Pharmaceutical was established to grant access to high-quality medicines that yield successful outcomes and improve the quality of life of patients in our community; through our innovative approach to enhancing healthcare outcomes.
“At Sygen, we look beyond the functionality of providing medicines and seek to drive the total well-being of communities in a way that is vital to society. There is a need in the pharmaceutical industry to shift the focus from humans as patients to people living in thriving communities. Sygen Pharmaceutical puts this in practice with the goal of promoting communal well-being and thriving communities.”
To the CEO, Sygen Pharmaceutical is building a reputation with its product quality and supply continuity, even as he disclosed that the Company continues to build a wide-ranging portfolio of products across brands and plans to rapidly expand its product line.
Since inception, the organization is driven by the quest to make a difference in the lives of people and communities. As a result, Sygen Pharma strives for continuous improvement and innovation geared toward expanding access to good-quality medicines in communities.
Though it is typical for manufacturing company to be challenged with forex scarcity and high rate of dollar to naira, the CEO said, his business has not buckled. “Financially, we have kind of doubled the enterprise value of this business, in the last three years. We are resilient minded people, we will continue to find innovative and creative ways to carry out our business in Africa,” he stated.
Biography
Ogunwuyi has been in the general management professional for over 25 years, focusing in strategy/business transformation, commercial (marketing/ distribution) management, technology management and investment management.
Before setting up his company in 2019, Ogunwuyi worked as Programme Lead at Ford Motor Company from 1997 to 2004, before moving to Diageo (Guinness Nigeria Plc) from 2004 to 2009. He also worked at Etisalat Nigeria -Mobile serving in the capacity of Director, Retail Business and as the chief operating officer, at Coronation Africa, private equity from 2014 to 2021.
He had his BSC in Economics at the Obafemi Awolowo University; Master’s degree, Computer and Information Systems Management at the University of Detroit Mercy and Master’s Degree in Engineering/Business at the University of Pennsylvania.
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