Harvard Team Commends NASENI-Troment Diagnostic Factory

A delegation of about 85 global health professionals, scientists and policymakers from Harvard University has commended the establishment of the NASENI-Troment Biotechnologies factory, describing it as a significant step toward combating malaria and other infectious diseases in Nigeria and across Africa.

According to a statement by NASENI yesterday, the delegation, participating in the Science of Defeating Malaria leadership development programme, toured the facility in Abuja on Sunday and inspected its production lines for Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) kits and Rapid Diagnostic Tests (RDTs).

The factory, a partnership between the National Agency for Science and Engineering Infrastructure (NASENI) and Troment Nigeria Limited, is designed to manufacture diagnostic technologies locally.

Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder of NASENI-Troment Biotechnologies, Selim Hani, said the facility was established to strengthen Nigeria’s healthcare sector through local production of diagnostic products.

According to him, the factory, built within 18 months, will manufacture diagnostic kits under the N-CheckUP brand for diseases and conditions including malaria, hepatitis B and C, HIV, COVID-19, typhoid, syphilis, pregnancy testing and blood glucose monitoring.

Hani said the facility has an annual production capacity of 600 million diagnostic kits and is expected to reduce Nigeria’s dependence on imported medical diagnostic products while improving access and affordability across the country and the wider African region.

Technical Partner at NASENI-Troment Biotechnologies, Dr. Engin Narinc, described the facility as Africa’s first fully localised Rapid Diagnostic Test kit factory.

He said the factory’s production process was designed to deliver diagnostic solutions manufactured entirely within Africa.

The team was led by Professor Dyann F. Wirth of Harvard University, a malaria researcher, who toured the facility and described it as an important contribution to efforts aimed at tackling malaria and other public health challenges.

According to NASENI, the Science of Defeating Malaria programme is holding in Abuja from June 7 to June 13, 2026. The initiative brings together health professionals, scientists and policymakers from different countries to build capacity for malaria elimination and eradication efforts.