Fidson Healthcare Plc, a leading Nigerian pharmaceutical company, has signed a Strategic Cooperation Memorandum with Jiangsu Aidea Pharma, Nanjing PharmaBlock, and the China-Africa Development Fund, to tackle HIV in Africa.

The signing ceremony took place during a visit of a team from Nigeria led by the founder and managing director of Fidson Healthcare Plc, Dr. Fidelis Ayebae, to Beijing, China. Other members of the delegate from Nigeria were Dr. Babatunde Ipaye and Mr. Oshoke Ayebae.

Ayebae, in a press statement made available to LEADERSHIP, expressed his optimism about the partnership, adding that, “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, particularly addressing the medical needs of over 1.9 million HIV-infected individuals in Nigeria, a focus of Aidea Pharma.”

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, was 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).

Through the 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.

The signing ceremony followed 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 the 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 revolutionise 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.”