Accra, Ghana – As Health Minister Kwabena Mintah Akandoh urges Ghanaian researchers to move discoveries “beyond laboratory shelves” into commercially viable medicines and vaccines, one indigenous company has already been doing exactly that for nearly 30 years.
Dr De-Gaulle Moses Dogbatsey, CEO of the Medi-Moses Group of Companies, has built a proven track record of converting plant-medicine research into practical herbal products that reach patients across Ghana. His work offers a living example of the health-sovereignty agenda the Minister outlined this week at the Research Meets Manufacturing award ceremony under the PharmaVax Ghana programme.
Mr Akandoh told beneficiaries that the true measure of success “will not be the number of grants awarded but the number of research projects that progressed into commercially viable products.”
He stressed that Ghana can no longer afford to wait “at the back of the queue” for essential medicines and vaccines, as happened during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Local production, he said, is now a national health-security imperative that will also retain foreign exchange, create jobs and reduce vulnerability to external supply shocks.
A Doctor Who Chose Plant Medicine
Dr Dogbatsey’s journey mirrors that call.
A medical doctor trained at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), he later obtained an MPhil in Pharmacognosy (Plant Medicine) from the same university and became the first Ghanaian medical doctor to specialise in the field.
He headed the Clinical Research Department at the Centre for Scientific Research into Plant Medicine at Mampong-Akuapem from 2004 to 2008 and subsequently trained in Traditional Chinese Medicine at Beijing University of Traditional Chinese Medicine.
His academic and clinical background placed him at the intersection of conventional medicine, scientific research and traditional plant-based knowledge.
That combination would later become central to the Medi-Moses model: identifying health problems, researching plant-based solutions, developing formulations and taking those products beyond research environments to patients.
After leaving the Centre, he established the Medi-Moses Clinic and Prostate Centre, which has grown from humble beginnings into five branches across the country.
From Research to the Patient
The company specialises in the management of enlarged prostate, medically known as benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH), prostatitis and related conditions.
Its flagship product, Prostacure Herbal Tea, together with Prostacure-X capsules, is credited by the company with helping to manage enlarged prostate without surgery and has earned international recognition.
Beyond prostate-related products, Dr Dogbatsey has formulated 57 herbal products targeting a wide range of conditions, including infertility, erectile dysfunction, hypertension, diabetes, menstrual disorders, peptic ulcer, haemorrhoids, vaginal infections, skin diseases, typhoid, malaria and glaucoma.
The scale of that product development, the company says, reflects decades of work aimed at translating plant-based research into products that can be made available to ordinary Ghanaians.
This is particularly relevant to the Health Minister’s argument that research should not end with academic publications or laboratory findings.
For research to have a direct impact on society, it must move through several stages — product development, testing, regulatory processes, manufacturing, quality assurance, distribution and ultimately access by patients.
Medi-Moses provides an example of an indigenous company attempting to operate across that chain.
The Bigger Question for Ghana
The story also highlights one of the longstanding challenges facing Ghana’s pharmaceutical and healthcare sectors: how to transform the country’s considerable research capacity and natural resources into products that can be manufactured locally and supplied consistently.
Ghana has universities, research institutions, medical professionals and traditional medicine practitioners with years of accumulated knowledge. The challenge is building stronger links between researchers, manufacturers, investors, regulators and healthcare providers.
Without those connections, promising research can remain confined to laboratories, academic journals and conference presentations.
The Health Minister’s call therefore goes beyond simply producing more research. It points to the need for a system in which research findings are deliberately developed with commercialisation and public-health needs in mind.
For companies such as Medi-Moses, the experience demonstrates both the possibilities and the demands of pursuing that path.
Regulation, Quality and Public Confidence
For indigenous medicines to play a bigger role in Ghana’s healthcare system, however, production must go hand in hand with quality, safety, scientific validation and appropriate regulatory oversight.
Patients need confidence that locally manufactured medicines meet required standards, while manufacturers need an environment that encourages investment in research, modern production facilities and quality-control systems.
This makes collaboration between local pharmaceutical companies, universities, research institutions and government particularly important.
The objective should not simply be to replace imported medicines with locally manufactured alternatives, but to build a competitive pharmaceutical industry capable of producing safe, effective and affordable products at scale.
Government Market Can Support Local Industry
The Health Minister announced a government framework contract for medicines estimated at GH¢159 million, with expansion plans, to create a predictable market for quality local products.
Such interventions could provide local manufacturers with greater certainty and encourage them to invest in production capacity, research and development.
He also emphasised partnerships “with dignity and respect” that transfer technology and expertise while building Ghanaian capacity.
For local companies, predictable procurement arrangements could therefore become an important bridge between product development and large-scale manufacturing.
A Three-Decade Demonstration
Dr Dogbatsey’s three-decade journey is significant because it demonstrates that the concept of turning Ghanaian research into locally produced health products is not merely theoretical.
His experience also raises an important question for policymakers: what would happen if more Ghanaian researchers and indigenous pharmaceutical companies received the financing, technical support, infrastructure, regulatory assistance and market opportunities needed to take promising discoveries to scale?
The answer could have implications far beyond the companies involved.
A stronger local pharmaceutical industry could help create skilled employment, support local agriculture through the cultivation of medicinal plants, generate opportunities for researchers and manufacturers, retain more foreign exchange within the economy and strengthen Ghana’s preparedness for future health emergencies.
It could also position Ghana to supply selected pharmaceutical and herbal products to markets across West Africa.
From Laboratory Shelf to Pharmacy Shelf
The central message from the Health Minister is therefore one that resonates strongly with the Medi-Moses experience: research must ultimately translate into solutions that improve people’s lives.
For nearly three decades, Dr De-Gaulle Moses Dogbatsey has pursued that objective through plant-medicine research, clinical practice and product development.
As Ghana seeks to become a pharmaceutical hub for West Africa, the Medi-Moses story stands as practical proof that research can — and already does — travel the full distance from laboratory to pharmacy shelf.
The next challenge is to ensure that more Ghanaian innovations make the same journey, backed by rigorous research, effective regulation, sustainable financing and the manufacturing capacity required to serve both Ghana and the wider African market.
Story by Stephen Kwaku Owusu Mintah
Ahotoronline, Accra.
