May & Baker

About May & Baker

May & Baker Nigeria Plc was established on September 4, 1944, as Nigeria’s pioneering pharmaceutical enterprise. Its origins trace back to England, United Kingdom, where in 1834, three chemists founded Grim wade, May & Pickett, a company dedicated to producing chemicals for pharmaceutical applications. By 1839, the firm had evolved into May & Baker United Kingdom Limited following shifts in ownership. Through a series of mergers and acquisitions, May & Baker UK Limited expanded into a major European conglomerate, undergoing several name changes over the years. Today, only the Nigerian subsidiary retains the original name.

In Nigeria, the company initially operated as May & Baker (West Africa) Limited, commencing operations from a trading post at 17A Dinuba Street, Lagos in 1944, serving the West African region. During the Nigerian Civil War, the company relocated to its current site in IKEA, Lagos State. In 1976, it established a manufacturing facility in IKEA, marking the beginning of local pharmaceutical production. That same year, the company transitioned from May & Baker (West Africa) Limited to May & Baker Nigeria Limited.

In 1979, in compliance with Nigeria’s indigenization decree—which mandated that foreign equity in Nigerian companies be reduced to a minority stake—May & Baker UK relinquished 60% of its shares in May & Baker Nigeria to Nigerian investors, retaining 40%. The company briefly operated under the name Embedded Nigeria Limited before reverting to its original identity as May & Baker Nigeria Limited.

May & Baker Nigeria Limited transitioned into a publicly traded entity through a listing by introduction on the Nigerian Stock Exchange on November 10, 1994, becoming May & Baker Nigeria Plc.

For an extended period, expatriates dispatched by the parent company oversaw operations at May & Baker Nigeria. However, in 1997, Joseph Ikemefuna Odumodu was appointed as the first indigenous Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer.

In 2002, the foreign partners, represented by Events SA of France, opted to divest but maintained a technical partnership with May & Baker Nigeria Plc. Following Events’ merger with Sanofi in 2004 to form Sanofi Events, the technical collaboration shifted to Sanofi-Events of France. This relationship was renegotiated in 2005 to enable May & Baker Nigeria Plc to develop and market its own products independently.

Since 2005, the company has pursued an aggressive expansion and diversification strategy, leading to the establishment of new businesses and subsidiaries. In 2005, it launched Biovaccines, a local vaccine production subsidiary in partnership with the Federal Government of Nigeria. In 2006, the company constructed a multi-billion NBA