A pharmaceutical company specialising in producing medication kits for treating diabetes, hypertension, and heart-related diseases is set to be commissioned in Ogun State this weekend.
The Chief Executive Officer of Codix Bio Pharmaceutical Company, Mr. Sammy Ogunjimi, disclosed this during a courtesy call on Governor Dapo Abiodun in his office at Oke-Mosan, Abeokuta. He mentioned that the factory is located along the Sagamu-Ijebu-Ode Expressway.
Mr. Ogunjimi noted that the company, which started operations in 2008, focuses on cardio-metabolic health related to diabetes, hypertension, and heart disease.
“When we came to Nigeria, we realised that treatment was a problem in the country, but beyond that, the biggest issue is effective diagnosis. People are often not correctly diagnosed, which may be due to a lack of knowledge. In the few years we have been in Nigeria, we were the first to facilitate the guidelines for diagnosing diabetes, and that was in 2009.
“We have shifted our business model a bit from just treatment to focusing more on diagnosis, which is why, over time, people have started to recognise us because of the unique area we ventured into,” he said.
He stated that although 99 per cent of test kits are used in Africa, not a single kit is manufactured on the continent; hence, it is time for African investors to begin looking into manufacturing medical kits to stop depending on those produced abroad.
The CEO also mentioned that his company is partnering with the World Health Organisation on technology transfer to build capacity for manufacturing Rapid Diagnostic Tests, starting with HIV, malaria, and others within the company.
“The project that will be commissioned on Friday falls within that scope, and it is the only one of its kind.
We are receiving a technology transfer from SG Biosensor.
The products from this factory will serve Nigeria and Africa, and bringing this product home is important to me,” he stated.
He added that another contract manufacturing factory, which would cater to importers of generic products and allow them to manufacture their brands in Nigeria, would soon be established within the next 18 months.
On many occasions, the CEO noted that his company has donated its products to various Primary Healthcare Centres across the state.
He explained that he decided to bring his investment to the state because of the conducive business environment and the current administration’s business-friendly posture. He added that his company would work with the government to realise its objectives in the health sector.
“I cannot just be doing business in Lagos and not bringing something home. In the back of the industry, we will create an ecosystem. The plastics for the test kits are imported from China and India, so that we will produce them at this factory.
“As the son of the soil from Sagamu, I tried to use my influence to ensure that those industries come to Ogun State,” he stated.
In his response, Governor Abiodun stressed the need to invest in capacity building to acquire the required knowledge for the state’s and the nation’s emerging industrialisation.
Abiodun decried the low turnout of knowledge-based graduates in the nation’s educational institutions and warned that if the trend is not reversed, companies will be forced to hire manpower from outside the country, a situation that he said would not bode well for the state and nation.
He said, “We must invest in capacity building to have the required knowledge. Ogun State is the education capital of Nigeria, and we need to ensure that we create courses that match the investments and investors coming into Ogun State, so that we do not graduate students who are mismatched with the investors coming here.
“If we are not prepared for it, it will mean we are bringing in people from outside the state and country to assist us. We must ensure that we nurture the proper skill set to support these emerging industries that are springing up.
“Thank you for the capacity-building initiative with the Olabisi Onabanjo University Teaching Hospital. That is very commendable. The same thing we have done by transforming our School of Nursing into a College of Nursing, because we found that people are building hospitals, but there are no nurses. Most of our nurses are just travelling abroad, so we had to turn our School of Nursing into a degree-awarding college to provide well-grounded nurses for us.”
While pledging continued support for the evolution, growth, and stability of the healthcare sector, the governor informed that his administration has repositioned the Olabisi Onabanjo University Teaching Hospital for optimal service to the people. He noted that this has cascaded into primary and secondary healthcare institutions, with more than 100 Primary Healthcare Centres renovated while over 70 have been earmarked for rehabilitation.
“Our target is to ensure that we have about 236 centres, one per ward, that are properly equipped and befitting to ensure that everyone can walk to a PHC in the first instance, and from there to secondary and tertiary institutions for the hub-and-spoke model that we seek to implement,” he said.
Abiodun underscored the importance of collaboration with relevant stakeholders to strengthen the healthcare sector and prepare for unforeseen circumstances, nipping them in the bud whenever they arise.
He expressed happiness with the company’s decision to establish a production centre in the state.
He said, “We are excited to be part of this success, and we hope that what you are doing will allow the industry to achieve 70 per cent production of pharmaceutical equipment and drugs by 2030, as envisioned by the administration.
“I have read that this will be the first large-scale RDT manufacturing plant in Nigeria and the second largest in sub-Saharan Africa; this is commendable.
“I am happy you enjoy the support of the World Health Organisation and other agencies who have suddenly realised that we are vulnerable in Nigeria, particularly with what happened in 2020-2021 during COVID, which exposed the fragility of our healthcare system.
“We were scrambling for vaccines, test kits, and ventilators, and I think this has presented an opportunity for people like yourself to take the initiative and invest, ensuring that in the event of another epidemic or pandemic, we are more than prepared to meet those challenges.”
The governor assured that his administration would collaborate with genuine investors, noting that “it is important that as we bring in more and more people to live, work, and play in Ogun State, we provide infrastructure aligned with our ISEYA implementation pillars to ensure they live happily. We cannot bring people to live where there are no schools for their children, no health facilities, and no roads. This ticks the boxes for us, and we are committed to it.”
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