Fidson Signs Pact With Three Chinese Firms To Tackle HIV In Africa

Fidson Healthcare Plc, the leading Nigerian pharmaceutical company, signed a strategic pact with Jiangsu Aidea Pharma, Nanjing PharmaBlock, and China-Africa Development Fund in Beijing, China on Monday. 

The signing ceremony took place during a visit of a team from Nigeria led by Dr. Fidelis Ayebae, the founder and MD of Fidson Healthcare Plc, according to a statement signed by Temitope Akindele, Corporate Services Manager, made available to Independent Newspapers.

Other members of the delegate from Nigeria were Dr. Babatunde Ipaye and Mr. Oshoke Ayebae.

Through this collaboration, the four parties have agreed to actively leverage their respective strengths to establish a new joint venture pharmaceutical plant project in Nigeria.

This new project is poised to promote Africa’s self-reliance in healthcare delivery, especially to tackle HIV. 

All parties agreed to share information and resources, jointly explore investment opportunities in the pharmaceutical markets of West African countries, and implement investment cooperation at the project level.

This signing ceremony follows a series of engagements, which included a visit by the Chairman of Jiangsu Aidea Pharma – Dr. Heliang Fu to Nigeria earlier in the year. 

During that visit, Dr. Fu toured the Lekki Free Trade Zone, which is the chosen site for the state-of-the-art manufacturing facility that is set to revolutionize the pharmaceutical industry in Nigeria and the wider African continent.

The partnership between Fidson and the Chinese firms is a sterling example of international cooperation aimed at tackling pressing medical challenges. The upcoming manufacturing facility will become a hub for pharmaceutical excellence, leveraging the Lekki Free Trade Zone’s strategic location and comprehensive infrastructure to foster economic growth and healthcare improvement.In the words of Dr. Fu, “This collaboration marks an important step for Chinese Pharma players in their commitment to global medical cooperation.

 By integrating our expertise and experience in the field of innovative drugs, we are confident in bringing greater well-being to African patients.”

Dr. Ayebae, expressed his optimism about the partnership, saying, “We eagerly look forward to this collaboration and believe that the complementary strengths of all parties will inject new vitality into the healthcare delivery sector in Africa. 

This project will particularly address the medical needs of over 1.9 million HIV-infected individuals in Nigeria, a focus of Aidea Pharma, Fidson Healthcare Plc boss said. 

He added that the project is coming at no better time as the National Agency for the Control of AIDS (NACA) in Nigeria under the leadership of Dr. Temitope Ilori is championing the government’s drive to provide necessary support and the enabling environment for pharmaceutical companies to start local production of Anti-Retroviral drugs (ARVs).

Fidson Healthcare Plc. is the leading pharmaceutical company in Nigeria engaged in the business of manufacturing, marketing, and sales of pharmaceutical and healthcare products. 

 In March 2005, Fidson became the first company in sub-Saharan Africa to manufacture antiretroviral (ARV) drugs locally.

Aidea Pharma was established in 2009 and listed on the SSE STAR Market (Stock Code: 688488.SH) in 2020.

Aidea focuses on the development of anti-HIV drugs as its core business while leveraging its competitive advantage in the human urine-derived proteins sector. 

PharmaBlock is a global one-stop CRDMO (Contract Research, Development, and Manufacturing Organisation) provider.