XKEM
Obasanjo to commission sickle cell drug factory today
A local factory that would immediately commence the production of NICOSAN- an anti-sickling drug, will be commissioned today by President Olusegun Obsanjo.
Ayodele Coker, Director General of SHESTCO who disclosed this in Abuja yesterday explained that NICONSAN is a drug first developed by the National Institute for Pharmaceutical Research and Development (NIPRD) for the management of sickle cell disease.
He said that NICOSAN consists of a mixture of extracts from four tropical plants, some of which are cultivated and found in the wild both within and outside Nigeria Coker stressed that all necessary precautions had been taken to ensure safety of the products as well as continuity in the production.
According to him, the Gamma irradiation facility is to be used for food preservation, sterilisation of pharmaceutical and medical devices, as well as polymerisation and other industrial applications.
Cker said that "the drug, to be used in the treatment of sickle cell diseases, is being produced by a pharmaceutical company-Xechem-Nigeria and has been tested locally and international at Philadelphia Children’s Hospital in the United States."
"Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity."
