New NAFDAC DG must spell out her duties- Umoh …Says Prof Adeyeye’s qualification as Pharmacist is good for the job

New NAFDAC DG must spell out her duties- Umoh

.Says Prof Adeyeye’s qualification as Pharmacist is good for the job

By Udeme Clement

The Chairman, Toiletries & Cosmetics  Group, Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (T&C Group of MAN), and the Chief Executive Officer, Stellarchem Nigeria limited, Mr. Ikpong Umoh has called on the new Director General, National Agency for Food, Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), Prof Moji Adeyeye to spell out her duties clearly, to avoid duplication of functions with other regulatory agencies in the country.
He said this in a chat with Financial Business & Maritime News, through the telephone.

His words: Looking at her background as a Pharmacist, one can quickly say that she is qualified for the job, but it will be too early to judge. We need more time to see how she tackles the issues of influx of fake and substandard drugs into the country. This is quite imperative because the primary function of NAFDAC as a regulatory agency is to ensure safety of lives. NAFDAC has to do this by ensuring that fake as well as substandard drugs capable of killing innocent citizens are not smuggled into the country. So, it is a huge task that requires hard work and competence”.

Responding to question on what he thinks may be her challenges as new DG of NAFDAC, he said, “she has to contain with other agencies competing for revenue through regulatory activities in the industry.  As such, she has to come out openly and dialogue with Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON) and other regulatory bodies to avoid duplication of duties, conflict of interest and controversy on her line of duties. This means, she has to spell out clearly what her duties are, as the new DG of NAFDAC”.

On her track record, as a Professor of Pharmaceuticals, Manufacturing Science and Drug Product Evaluation, College of Pharmacy, Roosevelt University, USA, he pointed out, “From her background, she studied abroad, but she has to look inward to see how our system works locally in Nigeria. She should bring her competence and experience to bear locally in tackling the major issue of fake drugs in the country. However, as I said previously, we need time to see her performance before judging from any angle.”

According to President Muhammadu Buhari, the appointment, which takes effect from November 2017, is for the initial term of five years.

Her background:

Prof Adeyeye has been a Professor of Pharmaceutics and Manufacturing for 21 years at Duquesne University in Pittsburgh, PA. She is a Senior Fulbright Scholar,  Specialist and 2008 AAPS Fellow.

She earned her B.S., M.S., and PhD from the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, Nigeria and University of Georgia, Athens, GA, respectively.

Adeyeye’s research interests include preformulation, early phase development of solid, semisolid and liquid dosage forms,  IND-based and intellectual property-driven late phase development or bench-to-bedside translational research.

She has mentored over 15 PhD and M.S candidates. She has 5 patents, 55 peer-reviewed manuscripts, book chapters and books, and more than 140 scientific presentations.

Adeyeye is also the founder of a socially conscious start-up company – Elim Pediatric Pharmaceuticals. She uses her University lab for the early phase R&D and partners with contract manufacturing organisations for the clinical and registration batches.

She is the founder of Drugs for AIDS and HIV Patients, a nonprofit organisation committed to prevention, education, care and treatment of HIV/AIDS children in Nigeria and founder of Sarah’s Orphan Home.