NAFDAC DG To Pharma Companies: Collaboration Key To Attaining Global Recognition

In a call to action, the director-general of the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), Prof. Mojisola Christianah Adeyeye, has urged pharmaceutical companies in Nigeria to strengthen their collaboration with the agency, emphasizing that such partnerships are crucial for the country’s pharmaceutical sector to attain global recognition and compete in the international market.

Adeyeye, made the call at a press briefing on the WHO Prequalification of Swiss Pharma Nigeria Limited, SWIPHA’s second product Antimalarial: Sulphadoxine/Pyrimethamine tablets (Sap Combination), in Lagos.
According to NAFDAC DG, Swiss Pharma Nigeria Limited was able to achieve this feat through meaningful collaboration with NAFDAC as well as a systematic implementation of policies targeted at enhancing capacity of local drug manufacturers that meet global Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) standards.

These policies include the 5+5 policy, the expansion of NAFDAC’s ceiling list, and new policy on establishment of Pharmaceutical Plants in Nigeria, among others, she added.

Recall that on the 2nd of May 2023, the WHO Prequalification Unit added Pediatric Zinc Sulphate tablet (20mg dispersible tablet) manufactured by Swiss Pharma Nigeria Limited to its list of prequalified medicines (Swiss Pharma Nigeria’s dispersible zinc tablet prequalified | WHO – Prequalification of Medical Products (IVDs, Medicines, Vaccines and Immunization Devices, Vector Control).

“With this recent achievement, Swiss Pharma has added another first to its arsenal of firsts. Being the first manufacturer to be recognized by the WHO as operating at an acceptable level of compliance to GMP requirements in West Africa in 2013, the manufacturer is now also the first manufacturer of finished pharmaceutical product to attain prequalification of 2 products in the West Africa and Central Africa Sub-region within the time space of 15 months.

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“Our designated GMP inspectors in NAFDAC provided immense technical support prior to WHO’s site inspection by the prequalification inspection team and provided valuable insight into objective review of Corrective and Preventive Actions (CAPA) taken to address the few observed non-conformances recorded during WHO’s inspection. This is aside several face-to-face meetings, phone calls and virtual meetings with key personnel of Swiss Pharma Nigeria Limited.

“This additional feat without an iota of doubt has reinforce our believe that with the right attitude, collaboration, synergy and appropriate policies, Nigeria Pharma Industries can become a force to reckon with in the comity of nations. With this achievement, Swiss Pharma Nigeria Limited has undoubtedly become the trail blazer, a global supplier of quality essential medicines for public health program and is set to improve its fair share of the Pharma market,” Adeyeye averred.

She therefore encouraged other well-meaning local drug manufacturers to emulate this feat through harmonization of collective aspiration and synergy of effort with the NAFDAC’s relevant directorates, adding that, “We can together as a team achieve more. As a customer-focused and Agency-minded organization, we are open to support more local manufacturers who have over the years shown a history of continued compliance to our extant regulations. Together, especially at a time like this in our Nation’s history when the Federal Government has pronounced executive orders to support indigenization of drug manufacturing, we can replicate this achievement and propel more local manufacturers to attain similar global recognition.”