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A COMMUNIQUE ISSUED AT THE END OF THE 26th ANNUAL NATIONAL CONFERENCE 2023 OF THE ASSOCIATION OF INDUSTRIAL PHARMACISTS OF NIGERIA

A COMMUNIQUE ISSUED AT THE END OF THE 26th ANNUAL NATIONAL CONFERENCE OF THE ASSOCIATION OF INDUSTRIAL PHARMACISTS OF NIGERIA (NAIP) HELD FROM 5th– 8th OF JULY, 2023 AT CARLTON SWISS GRAND HOTELS LIMITED, 47B, NZA STREET, INDEPENDENCE LAYOUT, BEHIND GOVERNMENT HOUSE, ENUGU, ENUGU STATE, NIGERIA 1.0 Introduction The Association of Industrial Pharmacists of Nigeria […]

September 29, 2023/0 Comments/by Naip

Ebonyi pharma city will help Nigeria achieve self-sufficiency in drug production –Onuegbu, NAIP chairman

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November 17, 2022/0 Comments/by Naip

A COMMUNIQUE ISSUED AT THE END OF THE 26th ANNUAL NATIONAL CONFERENCE 2023 OF THE ASSOCIATION OF INDUSTRIAL PHARMACISTS OF NIGERIA

NAIP Conference

September 29, 2023/0 Comments/by Naip

Ebonyi pharma city will help Nigeria achieve self-sufficiency in drug production –Onuegbu, NAIP chairman

News

November 17, 2022/0 Comments/by Naip

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A COMMUNIQUE ISSUED AT THE END OF THE 26th ANNUAL NATIONAL CONFERENCE 2023 OF THE ASSOCIATION OF INDUSTRIAL PHARMACISTS OF NIGERIA

NAIP Conference

1.0 Introduction

The Association of Industrial Pharmacists of Nigeria (NAIP) is a technical arm of the Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria (PSN) and the professional body of all registered and licensed Pharmacists in the Pharmaceutical Industry within Nigeria, dedicated to the promotion of Pharmacy profession, Pharmacy education/research and Pharmacy practice within the Industrial sector. NAIP having over 500 companies as corporate members representing over 1000 Pharmacists from all over Nigeria, held the 26th edition of its annual national conference on July 5th – 8th July, 2023 at the Carlton Swiss Grand Hotels Limited, 47B, Nza Street, Independence Layout, behind Government House, Enugu, Enugu State.

The conference involved a keynote address on the theme, sessions on the sub-theme, and panel discussions to brainstorm and provide solutions to the myriad of problems plaguing Nigerian Industrial Pharmacists.

The theme of the conference: The Role of the Pharmaceutical Industry Towards Achieving Medicines Security in Nigeria was addressed by the keynote address given by Prof. S. I. Ofoefule, FPSN of the Department of Pharmaceutical Technology and Industrial Pharmacy, University of Nigeria, Nsukka.

The first technical session titled: A New Growth Formula for Pharmaceutical Manufacturing in Nigeria was by Pharm. Kunle Oyelana, FPSN, MD/CEO Glaxosmithkline, Nigeria.

The second technical session titled: Attracting and Retaining Contract or Toll Manufacturing, Givers and Receivers Perspectives was delivered by Pharm. Yetunde Adigun, Technical Director, Swiss Pharma Nigeria Limited.

The Conference also featured a Panel discussion with Prince Chijioke Ofomata FPSN as the lead discussant while the Panelists included Pharm. Mrs. Ifeanyinwa Grace Ohiaeri, Director, PCN Southeast; Pharm. Valentine Okelu, Executive Director Sales/ Marketing, May & Baker PLC; Pharm. Ekene Christopher Aguolu, MD/CEO Ecomed, Prof. S. I. Ofoefule, FPSN of the Department of Pharmaceutical Technology and Industrial Pharmacy, University of Nigeria, Nsukka and Pharm. Declan Ugwu from NAFDAC.

2.0 Attendance /Acknowledgements

The opening ceremony was chaired by His Royal Majesty, Igwe Oranu Chris Chidume Eze Ana-Ukwu, the Eze Igulube of Omor, Anambra State. Other dignitaries present included Dr. Ifeanyi Agujiobi, Permanent Secretary, Enugu State Ministry of Health representing the Executive Governor of Enugu State; Prof. Cyril Odianose Usifo FPSN, President, Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria (PSN); Pharm. Udeorah Egbuna FPSN, Deputy President PSN South; Pharm. Gbenga Falabi FPSN, National Secretary PSN; Pharm. (Mazi) Sam Ohuabunwa FPSN, OFR, Immediate Past President, PSN; Pharm. Ken Onuegbu FPSN, National Chairman NAIP; Pharm. Amaka Okafor, representative of PCN Registrar; Pharm. Madubuattah Louis, representative of DG NAFDAC; Pharm. Mnena Scholastica Lan FPSN, National Chairperson of ALPS; Dr. Ambrose George Ugwu, Registrar, Enugu State University of Science and Technology; Pharm. Festus Ejepke, Chairman PSN Enugu state; Rev. Sis. Nora Morris Anyim representing the Mother General of Daughters of Divine Love; Rev. Sis. Jane Francis Chioke, CEO of Faith based Centre Medical Foundation; Dr. Ezekiel Olugbenga Akinkunmi, National Chairman of NAPA; MD/CEOs of Pharmaceutical companies across the Country.

The conference was also attended by NAIP Executive and Council members as well as NAIP delegates from eleven states including Abia, Anambra, Delta, Edo, Enugu, Kano, Kwara, Lagos, Oyo, Imo and Plateau states.

Deep appreciation goes to all the executive committee members, members of the conference planning committee, our sponsors, special guests, association s members, secretariat staff, vendors and all those who contributed to the success of the conference.

3.0 Summary of Discussions

The following is a summary of discussions made during the speeches, paper presentations, technical sessions, panel discussions, and contributions of participants:

Nigeria contributes less than 2% to the global pharmaceutical market.

A precondition to medicine security is localized manufacturing.

Local production of essential medicines has the potential to reduce the infiltration of falsified and substandard medicines as well as improve the economy of the country.

Challenges facing the pharmaceutical industries include lack of infrastructure, weak industrial linkages, weak technology, and engineering base, lack of petrochemical industries to enable API production, poor funding, inadequate incentives, high and multiple taxation, dysfunctional supply chain, brain drain of professionals, inconsistent fiscal and monetary policies, etc.

In addition, Nigeria fully relies on other Countries like India and China for Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients and excipients and this dependency is worrisome.

The Nigerian Pharmaceutical Industry due to its size and clout can be trusted to produce and distribute quality medicines and is expected to take the lead in solving Africa’s problem.

Collaboration is key for the Pharmaceutical Industry operators as well as collaborations with others like academia and research institutes.

Contract and toll manufacturing should be explored instead of attempting to embark on full-scale production particularly where there are inadequate funds.

The development of actionable strategies that can be implemented is very important to promote medicine security in the Country with the new Government policy of 60% local and 40% imports in focus.

Since NAFDAC is not a business agency, they should be wary of the levy, fees, and stringent policies and rules imposed on Pharmaceutical Companies.

The issue of restriction of the number of products to be registered per quarter by NAFDAC is not acceptable because it sets pharmaceutical companies backward in terms of planning, and it reduces the employment of Pharmacists as well as business opportunities.

The issue of the Common Technical Document (CTD) format of dossiers is still a major hindrance to the registration of pharmaceutical products.

4.0 Key Outcomes and Decisions

In the light of the observations made, conference arrived at the following:

A holistic approach requiring the active involvement of all stakeholders as regards medicine security in Nigeria must be employed.
There is an urgent need for the drafting and implementation of a National strategic plan (Master plan) for the development of Pharmaceutical Industries in Nigeria. The drafting of the blue print should be championed by NAIP and PSN.
Regulatory bodies must be humane in their approach to ensure the quality of drugs being produced as well as promote local manufacturing.
Cooperation and collaboration without unnecessary competition among Pharmaceutical Industry in the form of contract manufacturing is the way to go. However, well written contract agreements must be in place.
Government must initiate and implement policies and Incentives that will promote, protect and grow the local Pharmaceutical Industries.
Government must also provide the enabling environment for pharmaceutical companies to thrive. This includes the provision of infrastructural facilities, ensuring the peace and security of lives and properties among others.
CTD format of dossier should not be made as a compulsory requirement by regulatory bodies for locally consumed products except if they have to be exported.

5.0 Follow-up Actions

The conference participants expressed their commitment to partner with the regulatory bodies, Government as well as other stakeholders in activities that would be leveraged towards ensuring the availability of essential medicines consummating the quest for quality health for all Nigerians.

NAIP will set up a committee that will come up with a blueprint to enhance medicines security in the Country which will be presented to the Government for consideration.

6.0 Closing

NAIP, as a major stakeholder in the Nigerian Pharmaceutical sector, reaffirms its strong commitment to providing education, strategic guidance, ethical practice in achieving medicines security in Nigeria thereby ensuring the health of Nigerians.

Pharm. Ken Onuegbu FPSN
National Chairman

Pharm. Joy Adeshina FPCPharm
National Secretary

September 29, 2023/0 Comments/by Naip

Ebonyi pharma city will help Nigeria achieve self-sufficiency in drug production –Onuegbu, NAIP chairman

News

The private sector-driven process to put Nigeria on the road to strategically reducing the country’s very high dependence on importation of over 70 percent of the drugs used in the healthcare system in the long term got an encouraging uptick when the Ebonyi State government under the leadership of Engineer David Umahi, the South East apostle of massive infrastructural development welcomed initiative of the National Association of Industrial Pharmacists, NAIP, to create an integrated pharmaceutical production city in the state.
NAIP appointed Mazi Sam Ohuabunwa, as chairman of the Special Purpose Vehicle, SPV, it created to drive the process. Ohuabunwa, a seasoned pharmacist and corporate administrator, is the immediate past president of the Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria and former pioneer managing director of Neimeth Pharmaceuticals Plc.

In this interview, Chairman of NAIP and Managing Director of Tricare Pharmaceuticals Limited, Ken Onuegbu, talks about the huge project.

PSN national conference is usually a forum for articulating positions on government policies that affect the practice of the profession. What can ordinary Nigerians look forward to as an outcome of the conference?

There was a call on the Federal Government to put in place some intervention measures that will ensure medicine security in the country. As a nation, we cannot actually say we are a sovereign nation or truly secure if 70 percent (or more) of the drugs we are using in the country are imported from India or China. The PSN used the opportunity of the conference to hammer on that; there is need for the government to galvanise the process for turning petrochemicals into precursors for the production of active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs), which will boost the production of drugs in the country. We made a clarion call on the government to put necessary infrastructure in place that will radically improve industrial production in the country. When these things are put in place, many Nigerians who are eager to invest in pharmaceutical industry will readily do so. Even professionals in the industry like myself will also invest. Moreover, we will be able to attract institutional investors and venture capitalists. But if the government does not resolve these issues, no investors will put money into the pharmaceutical industry. The current situation is a nightmare.

In 2023, a new administration will take over. Behind the scene, is the Pharmaceutical Industry canvassing policy frameworks with the leading presidential candidates and their own policy experts?

Yes, the PSN is actively working in this regard and the national body will come up with a robust communique that will layout a way forward and a policy statement, which a listening administration can adopt and use to create a revolutionary turnaround in local drug production as a strategic national economic security agenda. I have no doubt that the dynamic PSN leadership which is led by Professor Osifo is on top of this vital issue. As the country is preparing to usher in a new administration, the PSN is also getting ready to present a very robust policy document which the incoming administration can use to resuscitate and grow the local pharmaceutical industry. I believe very strongly that the PSN leadership will arm the next administration with a strategic plan for repositioning the pharmaceutical industry which is virtually in a comatose state. The Pharmaceutical industry requires radical intervention that will guarantee the local production and distribution of highly efficacious drugs that will be affordable and available, not the current arrangement that depends on importation. That way, we will be producing 70 percent of our drug needs while importing only 30 percent. For the past one year or so, the conversation in the industry has been focused on drug security.

What is the status of the research collaboration between the National Association of Pharmacists in Academia, NAPA and NAIP?

The collaboration with NAPA is ongoing, dynamic and futuristic. Two products have already come out of the collaboration. The stage we are right now is to register them with the National Agency for Foods and Drugs Administration and Control, NAFDAC and then give them a commercial push to make people doctors adopt and prescribe them for patients while community pharmacists will dispense in their pharmacies.
We have established communication with the Nigeria Institute for Pharmaceutical Research and Development, NIPRD, which we want to use to pursue registration of the drug with NAFDAC. We have received a positive response from the Director General of NIPRD, which has agreed to make its facilities available to us. We have set up a strong committee made up of people with solid experience in registering drugs with NAFDAC.

NAIP has a pharmaceutical city project in Ebonyi State. At what stage is the project?

The Ebonyi Pharmaceutical Manufacturing City Project, Ebonyi Pharma Park, is moving very well, though it encountered some challenges here and there, primarily from the host communities, but the issues have resolved with the able support and intervention of the state government. All necessary agreements and Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) have been signed. NAIP has set up a special purpose vehicle (SPV) to champion its interest in the project. The chairman of the SPV is Mazi Sam Ohuabunwa. It is designed to be an integrated pharmaceutical hub or centre that emcompasses everything from drug production to other companies that provide adjunct services – coordinated warehouse centre, printing, packaging, freight, financial services, among others, in one city dedicated to the Pharmaceutical Industry. There will residential quarters for the workers, schools for their children and hospitals. The only place like that in Africa is in Ethiopia. So what we have is modelled after the one in Ethiopia. The Pharma Park will have huge gas turbine plants that will generate electricity. We are looking forward to power sector investors like Prof Barth Nnaji (Geometric Systems) and Femi Otedola to invest in power projects cited in the Pharma City. It have extensive vertical and horizontal integration of operations of firms in the city working together and serving one ultimate purpose: contribute to the purpose of attaining self-sufficiency in drug production.

November 17, 2022/0 Comments/by Naip