Fidson Healthcare turned in 213.5 per cent more in profit in the first quarter of the year, compared to the same period of 2025, its financial report showed on Monday, as Nigeria’s fast-growing market for prescription drugs boosted sales.
Ethical drugs, alternatively called prescription medicine, grew by N10.8 billion, alone accounting for 65.6 per cent of revenue. Turnover was up by 85.4 per cent at N35 billion, just a fraction of it contributed by exports.
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The outlook for the Nigerian prescription drug market is projected to be bullish in the years ahead, with Statista forecasting revenue to reach $2.9 billion in 2025 and an annual growth rate of 3.6 per cent this year through 2029.
An expanding middle class and higher access to healthcare are expected to set the tone for growth as the medical needs of Africa’s most populous country continue to enlarge.
Other gains for the quarter under review rose by 46.2 per cent, aided by an increased amortisation of government grant.
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Finance income, essentially the interest the company earned on loans and receivables, jumped to N45.5 billion from N16.3 billion.
Profit before tax increased by 213.5 per cent, from N1.5 billion to N4.9 billion, while after-tax profit leapt to N3.3 billion from N1 billion.
Fidson, two years ago, won authorisation to market a vaccination it pioneered through a joint effort with Serum Institute of India Pvt Limited for the prevention of clinical malaria in children aged 5 to 36 months.
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Expansion plans are now leveraging international collaborations to develop local manufacturing capacity for specialty drugs to bridge a gap long filled by exports.
Last September, Fidson entered into a joint venture with Chinese companies Jiangsu Aidea Pharma and Nanjing PharmaBlock and Beijing-based China-Africa Development Fund to set up a pharmaceutical plant for the production of HIV drugs in Nigeria.
The project, to be situated in the Lekki Free Trade Zone in Lagos, is targeting pharmaceutical markets in West Africa.
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