By Moses Emorinken, Abuja
The Director General of the National Institute for Pharmaceutical Research and Development (NIPRID), Dr. Obi Adigwe, has revealed that the institute has developed a pilot hand sanitizer as part of its preparedness to address shortages in supply chain disruptions due to the COVID-19 virus.
Dr. Adigwe who made this known in a press briefing on coronavirus Friday in Abuja, explained that the disruptions were due to panic buying or genuine shortages.
According to him, “One of the global fallout of the recent outbreak has been supply chain disruptions of various commodities that are relevant to controlling the outbreak. These disruptions have either been through panic buying or genuine shortages, and it has been global.
“As part of the preparedness to address shortages in supply chain disruptions, NIPRID went ahead to undertake research on product development activities. Alcohol hand rub (sanitizer) which is one of the issues that majority of the citizens had indicated there were shortages and prices were hiked.
“NIPRID swung into action and considered several formulas which were contextual to our environment to ensure that the product we will be presenting as a pilot production will be contextual to our situation. It is of the highest quality in terms of ensuring activity against the spread of coronavirus.
“In addition to this pilot product development, we have also opened up a data base for local pharmaceutical manufacturers who have been licensed to produce hand sanitizers in Nigeria.
“Reason why we did this is we are aware that some of these companies have excess capacity, and the companies who have indicated interest in joining the data base are willing to share the excess capacity for contract manufacturing. Among the companies that have indicated interest in joining this data base, are two companies who have WHO certifications”.
He explained that in addition to engaging the manufacturers who produce the hand sanitizers, the institute went further to identify where they get their raw materials from.
“We have also linked this to at least one company that produces alcohol in Nigeria; one of them has a factory in Kogi state where they produce alcohol from cassava. What this means is that in addition to having a product that is addressing the potential outbreak of coronavirus, we are also using this data base capabilities to stimulate jobs, address local capacity building, stimulate knowledge transfer and all the other socio-economic objectives.
“We have begun a profiling and modeling of vital medicines which are sourced from natural plants in Nigeria that may have ability to combat virus like coronavirus; once this is ready, we will be presenting this report. Also, medicine security concept is one that should be taken seriously”.
Regarding the viscosity of the hand sanitizers produced by NIPRID, Dr. Adigwe said: “though most of the hand sanitizers in the market are more viscous, it doesn’t make it more potent. We actually developed two pilot products – one with less viscosity and the other with higher viscosity.
“What we found in our initial product testing, people seemed to prefer the less viscous ones because they felt it was multi-purpose; they could use it for their hands and hard surfaces. When they use the more viscous one for hard surfaces, they found residue on it. Although we have not validated this because it could just be a preference for certain people,” Adigwe said.
The Minister of Health, Dr. Osagie Enahire, added, “This product will have to be presented to NAFDAC to have it certified as quickly as possible. It is a good example of local content and job creation, which this product represents.”
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