FG Reiterates Support For Local Manufacturers

Diabetes care recently received a boost in Nigeria as Colexa Biosensor Limited, a subsidiary of Codix Pharma Limited, unveiled its first In-Vitro Diagnostics (IVD) Factory in Sub-Saharan Africa and OnPoint blood glucose meter & strips duly with a capacity of 3.6 million packs.

The products have been evaluated, approved, and registered by the National Agency for Food and Drugs Administration and Control, NAFDAC.

At the officialceremony in Ilupeju, Lagos, the Executive Chairman, Colexa Biosensor Limited, Mr. Sammy Ogunjimi, stated 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 localise and reduce our dependence on imports. 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 2 Quality Management System certifications – 1st 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”.

In his keynote address, the Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Prof Muhammad Ali Pate reiterated the Federal Government’s commitment to patronise local manufacturers of healthcare products and ensure the prevention of spending the country’s short supply of foreign exchange on the importation of pharmaceutical products that can be produced locally.

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.

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 an Import Duty Exemption Certificate (IDEC) each time, which sometimes take up to two months.

In her goodwill message, the Director General of NAFDAC, Prof Mojisola Adeyeye hailed Sammy Ogunjimi and Lekan Asuni for their vision of ensuring that the country can meet its local consumption of IVD products.