-LMHRA and QMS Sign $9M Deal to Modernize Quality Control Lab
IPNEWS: The Liberia Medicines and Health Products Regulatory Authority (LMHRA) has taken a decisive step toward eliminating substandard and falsified medicines from the Liberian market, with the signing of a landmark Public-Private-Partnership (PPP) with its international partner, Quality Management Solutions (QMS).
The agreement, signed on Friday, November 21, 2025, at the LMHRA headquarters in Mamba Point, sets in motion a US$9 million investment to establish an ultra-modern, state-of-the-art Quality Control Laboratory. The initiative aims to secure ISO/IEC-17025:2017 Certification and achieve World Health Organization (WHO) Maturity Level-3 benchmarks, a standards currently unmet by the country’s existing regulatory framework.
Speaking at the inception meeting, Dr. Luke Bawo, Managing Director of the LMHRA, described the agreement as a “big leap” for the health sector but offered a stark assessment of the current reality. He noted that despite significant advancements in healthcare infrastructure and personnel training over the last decade, the inability to verify the quality of medicines has left the system at a “breaking point.”
“We cannot authenticate the quality of commodities in circulation,” Dr. Bawo admitted. “Currently, we can only conduct visual and physical testing. We cannot determine impurities in products or authenticate if a commodity is at a particular strength.”
He explained that the current laboratory suffers from unstable electricity, inadequate equipment, insufficient reagents, and a lack of accreditation, forcing the country to rely on costly third-party testing abroad. “The quality of any health system is directly dependent on the quality of commodities in circulation,” Dr. Bawo added. “This partnership marks a new day. We are resolved that within two years, we will attain the necessary global qualifications.”
Under the PPP model, QMS will operate as a profit-oriented entity to recoup its investment, with a revenue-sharing split of 65 percent to QMS and 35 percent to the Government of Liberia (LMHRA).
Shoaib Mirza, General Manager of QMS, outlined the technical scope of the project. He stated that QMS will renovate the existing structure and equip the lab to test a wide range of products, including: pharmaceuticals and medical consumables, food and animal feeds, petroleum products and sanitization chemicals.
“We will implement a Quality Management System that ensures the lab is legally identifiable, impartial, and consistent,” Mirza said. He pledged to generate test reports within 15 to 30 days and ensure that all personnel are rigorously trained to handle sophisticated instrumentation.
“It is a joy to work with the LMHRA in efforts to clean and clear Liberia of harmful medicines,” Mirza concluded.
Dr. Bawo emphasized that the path to this signing was deliberate and transparent, spanning over a year and three months. The process involved scrutiny and approval from the Executive, the Public Procurement and Concession Commission (PPCC), the Concession Committee at the Ministry of Finance and Development Planning (MFDP), the National Investment Commission (NIC), and the Ministry of Justice (MOJ).
“We insisted on doing everything the right way,” Dr. Bawo noted. “We have received the official approval to modernize this laboratory, and despite distractions, we are headed in the right direction.”
Dr. Patricia Quaye-Freeman, Deputy Managing Director of LMHRA, welcomed the partnership as a major milestone for consumer protection. “Together, we have the opportunity to build a facility that will serve as a model of excellence in quality assurance,” she said, urging the technical teams to engage in open dialogue and shared learning.
While the signing ceremony was kept low-key, Dr. Bawo announced that a grand commissioning of the facility is expected in four months, once the modernization is complete.
The new laboratory will introduce measures such as QR-coding for imported health products, allowing the LMHRA to aggressively clean up the market of expired, falsified, and dangerous medicines.
