LMHRA secures USD9 million PPP with QMS to build advanced medicine quality control lab in Liberia

LIBERIA—The Liberia Medicines and Health Products Regulatory Authority (LMHRA) has entered a USD9 million Public-Private Partnership (PPP) with Quality Management Solutions (QMS) to revamp the country’s outdated and underfunded medicines testing system.

The agreement, signed on November 21, 2025, at LMHRA’s Mamba Point headquarters, will finance the construction of a state-of-the-art, ISO-compliant Quality Control Laboratory.

This new facility aims to help Liberia achieve WHO Maturity Level 3, a benchmark the country has sought for decades without success.

Liberia’s healthcare system has long struggled with systemic weaknesses, worsened by widespread availability of fake, substandard, and expired medicines.

Regulatory bodies have lacked the tools to accurately test drug potency, detect contaminants, or verify product authenticity.

This gap has put patients at risk and strained an already fragile health infrastructure.

The LMHRA estimates that over 40% of medicines circulating in Liberia are substandard, counterfeit, or improperly stored, contributing to deaths, treatment failures, antimicrobial resistance, and decreased public trust.

Currently, the LMHRA laboratory can only perform basic visual and physical inspections due to inadequate equipment, outdated reagents, unreliable electricity, and insufficient staff training.

It also lacks international accreditation, leaving Liberia dependent on costly third-party testing abroad—a burden many private importers avoid.

Speaking at the project’s launch, LMHRA Managing Director Dr. Luke Bawo highlighted the critical challenges facing Liberia’s medicine quality assurance.

“Our current testing capacity is limited. We cannot authenticate the strength or purity of medicines, which places the health system at a breaking point,” he said.

Dr. Bawo called the partnership “a major step forward” and expressed confidence that the new laboratory would enable Liberia to meet global quality standards within two years.

Under the PPP arrangement, QMS will invest capital, manage operations, and recover costs through revenue sharing, receiving 65% of income generated, while LMHRA retains 35% and governs oversight.

 This model combines private-sector efficiency with public regulation.

QMS General Manager Shoaib Mirza outlined plans to expand LMHRA’s testing scope to include pharmaceuticals, medical supplies, food and beverages, animal feed, petroleum products, and sanitization chemicals.

He assured that the lab would implement a robust Quality Management System to guarantee impartiality, credibility, and consistency.

Mirza also pledged fast turnaround times for test reports between 15 and 30 days and comprehensive training for LMHRA staff on advanced instruments.

The partnership follows over a year of regulatory due diligence, with approvals from multiple government agencies, including the Public Procurement and Concession Commission, Ministry of Finance, and Ministry of Justice, underscoring its legitimacy.

Deputy Managing Director Dr. Patricia Quaye-Freeman described the project as a defining moment in pharmaceutical regulation, emphasizing the importance of transparency and collaboration during implementation.

Once operational, the upgraded lab will introduce innovations such as QR codes on imported medicines, real-time product tracking, intensified market cleanups, and stricter post-market surveillance to combat harmful drug influx.

This initiative addresses longstanding vulnerabilities exacerbated by weak border controls, limited enforcement, and high demand for cheap medicines—issues highlighted by recent health crises like the 2014 Ebola outbreak and COVID-19 pandemic.

By establishing reliable medicine-testing facilities, the LMHRA-QMS partnership aims to reduce death rates linked to fake drugs, boost patient confidence, attract pharmaceutical investments, and improve Liberia’s standing in global regulatory rankings.

The USD 9 million modernization project signals a strong commitment to public health, promoting scientific rigor and consumer safety in Liberia’s pharmaceutical sector.

For LMHRA and the broader health system, this marks a crucial move to shield Liberians from the dangers of counterfeit and substandard medicines.