The board of May & Baker Plc, on Wednesday, announced the signing of an agreement for contract manufacturing with Sanofi Nigeria Limited, a subsidiary of the French pharmaceutical giant- Sanofi.

Products covered under the agreement, according to a statement to the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) by Adetoun Abiru (Mrs), who signed for Marina Nominees Limited, company secretary to M&B, are Flagyl tablets and suspension and Tarivid tablets, anti-infective medicines and Malareich tables- an anti-malaria drug.

The company said it would use its World Health Organisation (WHO) certified manufacturing facility to produce the four product brands for sale by Sanofi in Nigeria and the West African market.

M&B, which becomes the second in Nigeria to engage in contract manufacturing, after Fidson Healthcare which was last April selected by Glaxosmithkline Consumer Nigeria Plc, as preferred local contract manufacturing partner, in a move expected to “help build and sustain local expertise, technical knowledge and improve local production capacities.”

However, unlike the M&B deal which seems immediate, the Fidson deal is subject to its meeting appropriate regulatory requirements, after which GSK will transition the manufacturing of its wellness respiratory products in the first instance from 2021Q3.