NAFDAC approves production of Chloroquine for ‘clinical trial treatment’ of COVID-19

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 NAFDAC 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.”

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“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 drug as anti-malarial many years ago before the discontinuation.”

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