By Idris Saidu
365Daily – Governor of Cross River State, Ben Ayade, has disclosed that the state is partnering Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP), for a slight redesigning of the Cross River Pharmaceutical Factory Limited and installation of more equipment to enable it meet the World Health Organisation (WHO) standard and global best practice.
Good Manufacturing Practice is a system for ensuring that products are consistently produced and controlled according to quality standards.
Speaking shortly after conducting the GMP Managing Director, Machineries and Packaging, Mr. Piyush Dave round the drugs factory in Calabar, Governor Ayade disclosed that “GMP is a very competent and professional company that has done installation for pharmaceutical factories across the entire world.”
Ayade noted that “GMP was competitively selected as technical partners based on the competence and presence in Nigeria,” adding that “they have a long standing experience in Nigeria and we have outsourced to them to give us the final milestone to the completion and actualisation of this Cross River State pharmaceutical factory.”
The factory which had long been completed, but had to undergo a redesigning phase in line with WHO requirements, according to Governor, “will require a bit of reconstruction because after the construction, based on the initial design, there was need for the factory to be redesigned completely to meet WHO standards for us to be able to supply drugs to refugees and IDP camps across the globe.”
The Governor also disclosed that “NAFDAC has approved our design which is a world- class design that allows you to separate the different sections of the pharmaceutical factory to meet world-class international specifications. I am very proud that we are having a pharmaceutical factory that is a product of Cross River State innovative thinking.”
Enumerating the types of drugs to be produced from the factory, Ayade hinted that “Indeed, this is the first and perhaps the only pharmaceutical factory of this size in the South South. We will produce antibiotics, eye drops, ointments, cosmetics and powders. We will produce all categories of drugs because we have all the different types of machines for all the different types of productions. It is a one-stop pharmaceutical factory where you produce all your drugs.”
While appealing to Cross Riverians and indeed, Nigerians who are specialists in pharmacy to come on board and offer their expertise, the Governor maintained that “beyond producing the traditional generic drugs, it is our intention also to delve into the innovation of drugs that meet our needs.”
He said with the level of installation work going on, the factory would commence operations sooner than later.
Earlier, the Managing Director of GMP disclosed that his company was basically into the pharmaceutical industry and “have built so many pharmaceutical companies in the world. We had the opportunity to drive this factory almost 18 months ago, but due to the global pandemic, it was a little bit delayed, but thanks to the governor, we have the official approval from the presidency to finish this factory within six months.”
Dave further expressed the hope that “this factory will be perfect for Nigeria as we are going to build according to WHO specifications and GMP Standard. it will follow all procedures.”
On completion, the GMP CEO hinted that the factory “will be able to produce tablets, liquids, capsules, eye drops, ointments. We intend to bring in more hands to enable us work faster and meet the six months’ deadline.”