The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) has banned 101 pharmaceutical products and ordered their immediate withdrawal, suspension, and cancellation from circulation in Nigeria.
In a statement released on its official X (formerly Twitter) account on Tuesday, September 30, 2025, the agency said the affected medicines are now prohibited from manufacture, importation, exportation, distribution, advertisement, sale, and use in the country. The public was directed to NAFDAC’s website for the full list.
The banned products cut across several categories, including:
- Antimalarials such as Artemether/Lumefantrine and Artesunate Amodiaquine formulations (e.g., ASAQ Tablets).
- Cardiovascular drugs including products containing valsartan and amlodipine (e.g., Aprovasc Tablets).
- Diabetes medicines such as Januvia/Janumet and Amaryl Tablets.
- Other medications like Abacavir Tablets, Combination 3 Tablets, insulin/growth-hormone injectables (e.g., Norditropin), inhalers, and eye drops.
Several multinational companies were linked to the affected items, including Sanofi Aventis Nigeria Ltd, Novartis Nigeria Limited, Bayer East Africa Limited, Healthline Limited, and Fensyl MHP Consulting Ltd.
NAFDAC explained the regulatory distinctions:
- Withdrawal – when a registration certificate is discontinued at the request of the market authorisation holder.
- Suspension – when licensing conditions are no longer met, pending further determination.
- Cancellation – when a product’s registration is formally revoked by the agency.
The agency stressed that the move forms part of a broader global fight against substandard and falsified medicines, which pose critical risks to public health. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), as many as 1 in 10 medicines in low- and middle-income countries fail quality control tests.
The development comes just days after NAFDAC intensified collaboration with pharmacists to curb fake drugs. Recently, the agency seized ₦1.2 billion worth of counterfeit malaria medicines in Lagos and sealed an illegal cosmetic factory producing unsafe skincare products.