NAFDAC Seeks International Support for Vaccine Manufacturing in Nigeria

The Director-General of the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), Prof. Mojisola Adeyeye, has called on international partners to support the establishment of vaccine manufacturing facilities in Nigeria.

Adeyeye made the appeal at the 8th Nigeria Pharma Manufacturers’ Expo in Lagos, jointly organised by the Pharmaceutical Manufacturing Group of the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (PMG-MAN) and PGE Expo PVT Limited.

She acknowledged international partners’ support in helping NAFDAC attain World Health Organization (WHO) Maturity Level 3. She said further assistance with modular vaccine fill-and-finish manufacturing would help Nigeria meet the requirements for vaccine lot release, a step she said was holding back the agency’s progress towards WHO Maturity Level 4.

NAFDAC has nine functions and requirements to meet for full benchmarking in medicines and vaccines, Adeyeye said. The agency has been benchmarked in eight, with vaccine lot release remaining outstanding.

‘We want to call on our international partners that have been of tremendous help. Without them we wouldn’t have been here. I want to challenge them to contribute, to fill and finish Modular Vaccine manufacturing so that we can get our Vaccine Lot Release,’ she said.

Adeyeye said NAFDAC had estimated the cost of achieving the lot-release benchmark and would share the details with partners. She also recalled that Nigeria previously manufactured vaccines and called for a return to domestic production.

‘To get Lot Release -Maturity Level 4, we have figured it out in a way we have estimated. It’s not going to cost too much. We will share that with you. Because we cannot afford to go back to where we used to be,’ she said.

She also praised President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s 2024 Executive Order, saying it responded to NAFDAC’s calls for incentives for local pharmaceutical manufacturers operating in difficult economic conditions.

‘I understand the stress our manufacturers are going through. Our manufacturers are patriots because they could have given up. I was championing incentives for the manufacturers until President Tinubu came on board with the Executive Order of 2024,’ she said.

Adeyeye said the order helped bring attention to the benefits of regulatory and industry progress. She added that the Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare and the Minister of State for Health had supported the case for incentives, contributing to the initiative to unlock value across the pharmaceutical supply chain.

She described NAFDAC’s work with the industry as a continuing process, citing a Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) roadmap that included audits of more than 165 companies. The initiative was funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and carried out by the United States Pharmacopeia.

**Editor’s note:** The source text includes a clarification stating, “This was during routine GMP inspection not during the roadmap.” The precise context of this note should be confirmed before publication.

Adeyeye said the agency’s work had focused on supporting the production of quality medicines and improving patient outcomes. She also cited a 70 per cent decline in imports of products covered by the “5 plus 5” and Ceiling Initiative between 2021 and 2025, attributing the change to local manufacturers taking on the challenge of increasing domestic production.

She said NAFDAC had continued to build staff capacity and pointed to the agency’s international recognition, including its membership in the International Medical Device Regulators Forum in 2023 and the WHO prequalification of its Yaba laboratory in September that year.

Adeyeye said WHO reassesses agencies after awarding Maturity Level 3 to ensure they continue to meet the required standards. She said NAFDAC was the first agency in sub-Saharan Africa to pass the reassessment on its first attempt.

PMG-MAN Chairman Oluwatosin Jolayemi described the expo as a platform for pharmaceutical manufacturers, regulators, investors, development partners and other stakeholders to showcase capabilities, form partnerships and discuss the industry’s future.

Jolayemi, who is also managing director and chief executive of Daily Need Limited, commended Adeyeye for supporting the sector’s alignment with international quality and GMP standards. He said NAFDAC’s policies were beginning to affect the industry and called for the gains to be sustained.

He also urged the government to extend the presidential executive order for another two years when it expires in March 2027. Jolayemi said progress towards medicine security and pharmaceutical sovereignty requires consistent policies, investment, capability development and a predictable business environment.

The two-day expo brought together 132 companies from countries including the United States, China, Argentina, Egypt, India, Rwanda, Austria, the United Arab Emirates, France, Germany, Indonesia and Nigeria.