The Nigerian Natural Medicine Development Agency has announced the development of 27 natural medicines and health supplements within the last two years.

The agency’s director-general, Martins Emeje, who disclosed this in an interview on Tuesday in Abuja, credited the milestone to targeted local research and development efforts aimed at addressing Nigeria’s pressing healthcare needs and reducing reliance on imported pharmaceuticals.

“We have successfully developed 27 products. Five already have NAFDAC registration numbers, while 18 are undergoing regulatory assessment. Most of them have NAFDAC application numbers and are at the final stages of evaluation,” Mr Emeje said.

He said all the products were developed using 100 per cent indigenous resources, plants, soil, water, and animals—backed by scientific research and aimed at solving local health problems.

He listed the products to include remedies for sickle cell disease, diabetes, ulcers, diarrhoea, immune support, anti-ageing, and malaria prevention, among others.

Mr Emeje attributed the progress to the strengthened political will and policy support under the current administration, especially through the 2022 National Policy on Science, Technology, and Innovation.

Mr Emeje reaffirmed the agency’s commitment to driving natural medicine research and development with a vision to position Nigeria as a continental leader in evidence-based traditional medicine innovation.

Meanwhile, the NNMDA has called on private sector players, non-governmental organisations, and faith-based institutions to invest in research and development.

Mr Emeje said, “We are all aware that there is high competition for the limited and scarce resources, which is why it is important the private sector gets actively involved.

“With the high competition for limited resources, it’s essential that private organisations, including banks, pharmaceutical, chemical, agricultural and food industries, as well as churches and NGOs, actively invest in R&D.”

He noted that such investments would not only foster national development but also benefit the funders, who would retain ownership of the intellectual property and commercial outputs of any research they support in line with global best practices.

According to Mr Emeje, such investments would not only foster national development but also benefit the funders, who would retain ownership of the intellectual property and commercial outputs of any research they support in line with global best practices.

“If you fund research, you own the result; the government benefits through the skill acquisition and equipment retention by institutions, but the intellectual property and commercial output belongs to the funder.

“The private organisations should feel free to talk to us, to make deals with us, to negotiate, sign Memorandums of Understanding because, in the end, it will be a win-win situation.

“You get a product or service out there, you get your profit, you recoup your investment, the community is better because the solution to the problems in the community will become available to our people,” Mr Emeje said.

(NAN)