The Director-General of the National Agency for Food and Drug
Administration and Control (NAFDAC), Prof Mojisola Adeyeye, said on
Monday the agency had ordered the manufacturing of Chloroquine for use
in the experimental treatment of coronavirus.
The chief said in a statement the drug was being repurposed for the experimental treatment of the disease.
Adeyeye said some countries had started using Chloroquine for the
treatment of COVID-19, adding that the drug was used in China with
moderate success.
The statement read:
“Other researchers in France and the United States have used the drug
for the clinical trial treatment of COVID-19 and they reported
effectiveness of the drug. Lagos State will start a clinical trial on
chloroquine to evaluate the effectiveness.
“In a very recent publication, chloroquine was reported in a press
briefing by the State Council of China, indicating that chloroquine
phosphate had demonstrated marked efficacy and acceptable safety in
treating COVID-19 associated pneumonia in multi-center clinical trials
conducted in China.
“The study involved 10 hospitals in Wuhan, Jingzhou, Guangzhou, Beijing,
Shanghai, Chongqing and Ningbo, and 100 patients. The investigators
reported that Chloroquine phosphate is superior to the control in
inhibiting the pneumonia associated with COVID-19, and shortening the
course of the disease.”
“About four weeks ago, I approached a local manufacturing company (May
and Baker), a member of Pharmaceutical Manufacturing Group of
Manufacturing Association of Nigeria (PMGMAN), whose flagship product in
the past was chloroquine to make a batch of the drug for emergency
stock.
“The company had NAFDAC approval for the production of the as anti-malarial many years ago before the discontinuation.”
