Global healthtech startup, PBR Life Sciences has announced its plans to connect cutting-edge pharmaceutical innovation with strategic investment opportunities to foster the collaborations needed to drive sustainable growth in Nigeria’s pharmaceutical sector.
The announcement was made during its 2025 Nigeria Pharmaceutical Industry Growth and Investment Summit held on Thursday at Marriott Hotel in Lagos.
Speaking at the summit, Adeoye Sobande, Chief Product and Innovation Officer, PBR Life Sciences emphasized the company’s commitment to integrating advanced AI technology with deep emerging market expertise to transform healthcare decision-making.
“We train and standardize data in a way that it can be used to inform strategic decisions, and based on that we have now developed some specific data products.” Sobande said. “From the comfort of their office, retail pharmacies can now see the performance of their products and insights like the kind of diseases being treated in Nigerian hospitals, the tests being done to diagnose those diseases and the medicines prescribed so manufacturers can make concrete decisions.”
PBR Life Sciences operate in Nigeria, Ghana and Kenya and provides multi-country, multivariate solutions to address the region’s healthcare challenges.
“We have worked with over a thousand pharmacies across Nigeria to support their digitalization. That makes it easy for us to work with them to gather data. This in turn reduces waste and shapes supply,” Sobande highlighted.
PBR Life Sciences have also developed the ecosystem in terms of building and training young graduates through its program, Project Lift to give young people hands on experience to drive healthtech innovation.
Ayodeji Alaran, CEO of PBR Life Sciences noted that the sector stands at a pivotal moment, reiterating his concerns about the country’s reliance on imported medicines.
“Today, 70% of medicines consumed in the country are imported, leaving our healthcare system vulnerable to currency fluctuations, supply chain disruptions, and escalating costs,”he said.
He added that Nigeria’s projected population to exceed 377 million by 2050 and the pharmaceutical market’s anticipated valuation of $1.01 billion by 2028 present a compelling case for bold investment in local production.
”We can no longer afford to rely on fragile global supply chains for critical medicines. Instead, we must build resilient, homegrown manufacturing capacity that secures access, reduces costs, and unlocks economic growth,” he said.
“The question is not whether we can afford to invest, it’s whether we can afford not to. The future of Nigerian healthcare will be defined by the decisions we make today. Let’s choose wisely,” the CEO added.
Highlights of the summit were strategic discussions around innovation in pharmaceutical manufacturing, regulatory modernisation, market expansion, and capital mobilisation to drive sustainable, sector-wide growth.
Meanwhile, the National Coordinator of PVAC, Dr. Abdu Mukhtar noted that the Nigerian government is implementing a commendable reform in the sector like the Health Sector Investment Renewal Strategy to address issues around improving primary healthcare services, health insurance coverage and preparing the health sector for any possible pandemic.
He highlighted how PVAC is providing solutions to challenges facing the health sector adding that all hefforts have been made to build an ecosystem that allows local manufacturers to thrive.
He disclosed that through the Executive Order signed by President Bola Tinubu to provide zero import duty and zero VAT for the importation of equipment and raw materials needed for local production in the health sector, manufacturers now have a conducive environment to produce pharmaceutical and life sciences products.
He also added that plans are ongoing to upscale the skills of young people through a newly established manufacturing academy to expose them to several industrial technologies.
Dr. Mukhtar called on investors to look at healthcare as a potential business opportunity. According to him, growth in the health sector will lead to an increase in the country’s GDP.
“In Nigeria, and like many African countries, the healthcare sector accounts for only 3 to 4% of the GDP. In many countries, like in the US, it’s about 17 to 18% of GDP. This means that there is a huge opportunity and potential for growth, even from a personal economic diversification perspective. If Nigeria can grow the health sector, especially on the private side, whether it’s pharmaceuticals, hospitals, or digital health, you know, all those opportunities can grow the GDP,” he said.
