*Prof. Mojisola Adeyeye, Director-General of the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control, urges pharmaceutical companies in Nigeria to invest in human vaccine production, in regard to NAFDAC鈥檚 achievement of the World Health Organisation鈥檚 Maturity Level 3 for medicines and imported vaccines in 2022

Isola Moses | 绿帽献妻

In accordance with the current administration’s “Backward Integration鈥�, “Nigeria First” policies, and recent global certifications, Prof. Mojisola Adeyeye, Director-General of the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), has urged pharmaceutical companies in Nigeria to invest in human vaccine production to ensure preparedness for future pandemics like the devastating COVID-19 pandemic.

Prof. Adeyeye, who noted this while speaking in Abuja, FCT, cautioned that Nigeria must not wait for another pandemic before taking action.

She also recalled how the country had relied heavily on international donors during the COVID-19 crisis.

The Director-General of NAFDAC explained that the health sector regulatory agency had restructured its operations to improve efficiency and transparency.

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According to her, NAFDAC has created a dedicated Directorate for vaccines, biologics, and medical devices since November 2024, to align with global regulatory standards.

She equally disclosed that NAFDAC achieved the World Health Organisation鈥檚 (WHO) Maturity Level 3 (ML3) for medicines and imported vaccines 2022, a key requirement for any country seeking to produce WHO-prequalified vaccines.

The agency is now working towards attaining ML3 for locally manufactured vaccines for consumers.

Adeyeye averred that NAFDAC remains the only regulatory agency in sub-Saharan Africa with an in-house laboratory for vaccines, biologics, and medical devices, unlike South Africa, which relies on outsourced facilities.

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She also noted NAFDAC has already met most WHO indicators for vaccine lot release, but needs local vaccine production to complete the benchmarking process.

She, therefore, expressed optimism that vaccine production would begin before the end of her tenure.

The Director-General advocated that Nigeria must stop depending on foreign countries for essential medical supplies.

Nigeria, she stated, has capable scientists and a favourable policy environment under President Bola Ahmed Tinubu鈥檚 Renewed Hope Agenda to support local manufacturing in this regard.

Emphasising the importance of local manufacturing of human vaccines, Mrs. Khadijah Ade-Abolade, Director of Vaccines, Biologics, and Medical Devices Registration and Regulatory Affairs at NAFDAC, likewise said the Federal Government had established policies and provided support to kick-start local vaccine manufacturing.

Ade-Abolade confirmed that NAFDAC鈥檚 regulatory framework covering market authorisation, inspections, clinical trials oversight, and post-market surveillance is now fully functional for use, once production begins.

Prof. Adeyeye restated that Nigeria has the capacity to begin with 鈥淔ill and Finish鈥� vaccine production while developing full-scale manufacturing.

She urged private investors to take advantage of the opportunity to strengthen consumers’ wellbeing and national health security.

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