…FG reiterates support for local manufacturing of diabetes test kits, strips
By Doris Obinna
Colexa Biosensor Limited, a subsidiary of Codix Pharma Ltd, commissioned an In-Vitro Diagnostics (IVD) factory in Sub-Saharan Africa.
It also unveiled an OnPoint Blood Glucose Meter & Strips, which was evaluated, approved, and registered by the National Agency for Food and Drugs Administration and Control (NAFDAC).
The official opening held at the company’s office in Ilupeju, Lagos, serves as a springboard to different health issues in Africa as well as addressed the prevalence of diabetes in Africa.
“With an installed capacity of 3.6 million packs and an opportunity to scale up to 10.8 million packs annually, the company is poised to meet local demand and export, starting with its subsidiaries across West Africa, with the added advantage of reducing the need for foreign exchange in procuring raw materials.”
The Executive Chairman, Colexa Biosensor Limited, Mr. Sammy Ogunjimi, said that with the firm’s focus on Africa and with Nigeria as its base, it aims to extend its solution throughout Africa and the world and contribute its efforts to correcting the deficit in the balance of trade and to raising the volume of exports to improve the foreign exchange situation.
“We aim to localize and backward integrate to reduce our dependence on imports and this factory is the first step towards achieving that goal. As a testament to our utmost desire to ensure consistent product and service quality, we are happy to announce that this factory has received two Quality Management System certifications – first the ISO 13485:2016 (IVD) Certificate, and the ISO 9001: 2015 (process) certificate.
“We have also received a successful independent comparative evaluation of OnPoint BGM with the market gold standard through the Medical Laboratory Science Council of Nigeria (MLSCN). Colexa Biosensor Limited will provide direct employment for over 700 staff and several more indirectly.”
Speaking, the Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Professor Muhammad Ali Pate, reiterated the commitment of federal government to patronise local manufacturers of healthcare products and ensure the prevention of spending the country’s short supply of foreign exchange on importation of pharmaceutical products that can be produced locally.
“Our President, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, sees it as unacceptable that 99 per cent of medical devices and more than 70 per cent of our generic pharmaceutical equipment in Nigeria are imported. The federal government will purchase locally manufactured diabetes test kits because we know that diabetes is a very significant cause of morbidity in our country.
“We are committed to developing our healthcare industry to contribute to the African healthcare market by providing the critical commodities and services that will optimize the health of our populations, ensure our health security and retain all the economic value in our country,” he said.
Earlier, the Chairman of the occasion, Prince Julius Adewale Adelusi-Adeluyi, a former Minister of Health, urged the government to ensure an environment that enables companies like Colexa Biosensor to thrive and remain sustainable.
Some of the ways he proposed that the government can support them include; the patronage of the products and total removal of import duty on pharmaceutical manufacturing equipment, raw materials, and accessories, rather than having to apply for Import Duty Exemption Certificate (IDEC) each time, which sometimes take up to two months.
On her part, Director General, NAFDAC, Prof. Mojisola Adeyeye spoke about the attainment of maturity level three by NAFDAC as a major opportunity that would ensure that quality products from Nigeria are accessible and acceptable to African Countries. She hailed Sammy Ogunjimi and Lekan Asuni for their vision of ensuring that the country can meet its local consumption of IVD products.