The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) director-general, Mojisola Adeyeye, in the company of Monica Eimunjeze, director, drug registration and regulatory affairs; Ijeoma Nwankwo, director, drug evaluation and research, and Gbenga Fajemirokun, SA to the DG NAFDAC, visited the ultra-modern pharma factory known as Emzor Campus.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) compliant factory is sited on more than 60 hectares of land at the Shagamu Interchange of the Lagos – Ibadan Expressway and is the largest pharmaceutical facility in West Africa. The factory is also (cGMP) compliant and has already manufactured and supplied millions of doses of medication ranging from anti-malarials, paediatric care, vitamins, and antiretrovirals to various international organisations through partnerships for public health intervention.
Uzoma Ezeoke, the EDG, Emzor briefed the NAFDAC team on the Emzor group’s progress from inception to date, saying the company had grown from the days of drug sales and marketing to manufacturing for the local and African market to exportation to Europe and the United States of America. This is in line with the Emzor group’s goal to be the number one name in pharmaceuticals on the African continent.
After the NAFDAC team’s tour of the factory, the team addressed their host, the Emzor group.
The NAFDAC DG, Mojisola Adeyeye said, “I taught pharmaceutical manufacturing in the United States for 19 years and I usually would take my students to pharmaceutical companies as an extension of the class because I believe in experiential. Part of the training is the facility tour. This facility that we have seen today can stand beside any facility in the US. To see what Emzor is doing gladdens my heart and makes us know that we can do it.”
She commended the Emzor workforce on their dedication and commitment to the vision of Stella Okoli for the pharmaceuticals industry in Nigeria as well as upholding the standards set by NAFDAC under the management’s new structure and standards in the last three years to regulate the pharmaceutical industry in line with global best practices regulatory bodies.
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She particularly praised the Emzor group’s consumer-targeted production and Health, Safety and Environment (HSE) compliance, saying Emzor is indeed a trailblazer of the industry and has indeed achieved its vision of being the number one pharmaceuticals manufacturing company on the continent.
She concluded by affirming that Emzor has proven that anything is possible in Nigeria that whatever industry you operate in, if you build it to global standard the world will come to us.
Monica Eimunjeze, director, drug registration, and regulatory affairs, also praised the Emzor facility’s quality control and compliance with the NAFDAC regulations. She said that she had postponed her visit times before but is glad to have finally made it to the factory; that the world-class facility is indeed a pride to the pharmaceutical industry and Nigeria.
She also praised the Emzor youth workforce that the future of the industry is assured with the training this young generation is being exposed to at Emzor. That she’s particularly proud of the workforce, especially the fact that the Emzor workforce is usually well represented like no other at NAFDAC organised training. She said that she expects an increase in the Emzor group’s international manufacturing partnerships.
Ijeoma Nwankwo, director, drug evaluation & research, applauded the young workforce; the Vaccines and new Emzor API manufacturing Technology Transfer and licensing agreement with India’s Mangalam Drugs and Organic Limited to locally manufacture and distribute Active Pharmaceutical ingredients (4 API’s) for the treatment and prevention of malaria. This leads to the development of a world-class API manufacturing facility in compliance with international standards and the first of its kind in Sub- Saharan Africa.
Gbenga Fajemirokun, the SA to the DG NAFDAC, also praised Stella Okoli for the young workforce and said seeing some of his old students working on such world-class premises was a pride.
Stella Okoli thanked the NAFDAC team for taking the time out of their busy schedule to honor the Emzor family’s invitation to tour the WHO-compliant facility. She reiterated that the Emzor Group is committed to raising standards in the pharmaceutical industry in Nigeria and Africa.
