Geneith Pharmaceuticals Ltd, famous for its flagship ACT malaria brand, Camosunate, has received the House of Representatives assurances of support as it expands to commence the production of some of its brands locally.
The assurance was given recently during an oversight visit of the House Committee on HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis, Leprosy and Malaria Control in Nigeria to the Geneith Production’s factory at the Mowe end of the Sagamu-Ore- Benin Express Road.
Speaking, Chairman of the Committee, Amobi Godwin Ogah applauded Geneith’s vision and mission in the pharmaceutical sector, as well as the dexterity and doggedness of its Chairman/ CEO, Emma Umenwa; and expressed optimism that when the ultra-modern factory commences operation, importation of drugs will be a thing of the past in Nigeria.
“We wholeheartedly encourage local production. The essence of this visit, because a mandate has been given to us, is to encourage you, support you in what you are doing, and to see how we can assist Geneith to reduce dependence on importation. We oversight critical health challenges of which one of them is malaria, HIV and TB. And these are the areas development partners, global fund, World Health Organisation, and other stakeholders, are investing a lot of money.
“And we encourage our people to cash in in these areas. So, we are very happy to see a thing like this from Geneith because each time we appropriate funds for these diseases, we discover that the drugs are imported. We are asking that they should be sourced locally but when we don’t have a company like this, how are we going to encourage them? We are, therefore, very happy to see what Geneith is doing. Nigeria will hear your name. Africa will hear your name. I know from what we have seen, this is something you have planned over the years, today we are celebrating Innoson, Dangote and others, and I want to say here that soon, you too will be celebrated because the pharmaceutical sector has been lagging behind. I know the quantity of drugs the government sources from Emzor, so imagine when we have more of Emzors….market is not the problem, support is not the problem, so go ahead, we are behind you, you will be supported,” Amobi assured.
Earlier while conducting members of the committee round the expansive factory, Umenwa pledged that Geneith would not shirk from its commitment to the fight against malaria scourge in Nigeria. His words: “Geneith has always been in the forefront of the fight against malaria, starting from diagnosis, to preventive and curative. “We play our role in these aspects; diagnosis which is before treatment, we do a kind of public enlightenment. Our major strength is treatment. We have the award winning Camosunate malaria tablets, it has won many awards. For now, we are still importing it, but one of the reasons for this factory is to domicile its production and other of our brands here in Nigeria in no distant time. So, this factory, by the time it is operational, will help reduce the menace of malaria in Nigeria via the production of quality malaria drugs”
While appealing for the government’s support, the Geneith boss disclosed that the factory, when completed, would have an installed capacity of producing 10 million drugs per annum and will also create over 4, 000 direct and indirect jobs, respectively.
“We are so much in need of the Federal Government’s support, especially in the area of patronage from the government’s agencies and institutions. We are also soliciting for the government’s fund because this is just the beginning. We also have other phases and sections we need to start soon after this one commences.
“The pharmaceutical industry needs stable policies, and I’m glad the President is already working along that line, in terms of granting duty-free to some basic raw materials. It is a good step in the right direction, and I commend Mr. President. However, we plead for an action on multiple taxation, it is a very big issue. We will be very happy if there will be a unification in the tax process,” Umenwa said.
According to him, the factory with a projected completion date of 2027, will be of a cutting edge technology, and also of WHO standard.
“We need three years for this factory to be optimally utilised. By 2027, this factory will be at least 80 percent operational.We will work with our technical partners to achieve our vision of local production of some of our products. Ours is a factory that will be run with cutting edge technology; this factory is of WHO standard,” he stressed.
Umenwa expressed hope that in the next 10 years, Geneith would have completely dominated the market, and also expanded its frontiers of production.
“This new factory will be a launch pad for our expansion to other parts of the country.
“Equally, we are aiming at diversification, including the production of Active Pharmaceuticals Ingredients (API). There is no pharmaceutical company in Nigeria producing it at the moment, all pharmaceutical companies import it,” he maintained.