This policy brief arises from a study commissioned by the Scinnovent Centre and undertaken by ACTS under the auspices of the Science Granting Councils Initiative (SGCI). The study focused on building competitive and socially inclusive local pharmaceutical industries in West Africa and addressed five issues: affordability, human resources, research and development, intellectual property and technology transfer. This policy brief presents findings on the impact of research, innovation and development by the universities and research organizations in the region local pharmaceutical industries and makes appropriate recommendations.