Charles Balogun

The National Institute for Pharmaceutical Research and Development (NIPRD) proudly joins the global community @WHO in marking World Immunization Week 2026. Vaccines represent one of the most transformative public health interventions in human history — eradicating diseases, reducing childhood mortality, and protecting entire populations from preventable illness. Yet millions remain unreached. This week serves as a timely reminder of the collective responsibility we bear to ensure that the benefits of immunization reach every individual, regardless of geography or circumstance. As Nigeria's (@Fmohnigeria) foremost pharmaceutical research institution, NIPRD remains steadfast in advancing the science that underpins safe, efficacious, and accessible vaccines for all. We reaffirm our dedication to research, innovation, and partnership. #VaccinesSaveLives #MedicinesSecurity

In a significant stride towards healthcare innovation and self-reliance across Africa and in many parts of the developing world, the Presidential Initiatives for Unlocking the Health Sector Value Chain (@PVAC_NG), the National Institute for Pharmaceutical Research and Development (NIPRD) are collaborating with SPARK at Stanford University (@Stanford) to train and educate local African scientists to directly address the health needs of the continent. The bootcamp and conference will bring together scientists from across African universities and research institutes for training and collaboration using the SPARK translational research model, offering opportunities for education, interaction and collaboration to enable and empower local researchers to develop local capacity leveraging translational research principles. Join other Thought Leaders and Policy Makers at the colloquium for a congress of Ideas and Actions.

We invite you to join other Thought Leaders and Policy Makers at the 2026 Annual SPARK Translational Research Bootcamp and Conference (Abuja, Nigeria) starting February 2, 2026, for a congress of Ideas and Actions.

Grateful to the Coordinating Minister of Health & Social Welfare, Prof Muhammad Ali Pate for gracing the MoU signing ceremony between the National Institute for Pharmaceutical Research and Development (NIPRD) and the Federal University Teaching Hospital, Lafia (FUTHL). The collaboration seeks to address inherent gaps in local production of vaccines, medicines, and diagnostics. It also aligns with the Institute’s strategy of forging high-impact partnerships that accelerate national pharmaceutical innovation and capacity building. nannews.ng/2025/11/29/nip… #medicinessecurity #vaccinesresearch

Further to NIPRD's groundbreaking roadmap, the MAV+ 18 million Euro grant has now been signed. In addition to catalyzing innovation & entrepreneurship, other emergent aspects include business collaborations, scholarships, training and exchange visits. Follow us to get involved: @DrAdigwe youtube.com/c/drobiadigwe facebook.com/niprdnigeria niprd.gov.ng

During the week, @DrAdigwe was received by H.E. Philda Nani Kereng, High Commissioner of the Republic of Botswana @BWGovernment to the Federal Republic of Nigeria @NGRPresident High-level discussions centered on building Africa's capacity for self-sufficiency and #medicinessecurity through evidence-based and inclusive Pan-African engagements.

Honoured to host a delegation from University College London (UCL) and Peking University for a strategic feasibility study on local diagnostic manufacturing in Nigeria. The visiting team, supported by Accu & Yuda Technology Consulting and Wanfu Biotech, is exploring the possibility of replicating a successful local production model already implemented in places like Uganda. This kind of collaboration and initiative illustrates the highest priority placed on the intervention by the Nigerian Government, firmly embedded in the Presidential Initiatives for Unlocking the Health Sector Value Chain. #medicinessecurity @PKU1898 @Fmohnigeria @PVAC_NG @NGRPresident

In case you missed it, watch the full episode here >>> youtu.be/fOln6zGsd1I @NGRPresident @Fmohnigeria @muhammadpate @SalakoIziaq @DrAdigwe #MedicinesSecurity #PresidentialInitiatives

Recently, as part of efforts to deepen institutional synergy and drive innovation, NIPRD hosted the Vice-Chancellor and Top Management of Nasarawa State University, Keffi (NSUK). This strategic engagement, led by the Director-General, Dr. Obi Adigwe, reflects a shared commitment to advancing efforts to translate ideas into actions, which aligns with the Presidential Initiative for unlocking the Healthcare value chain. #MedicinesSecurity #VaccinesLocalProduction

Today, I received the Austrian Ambassador to Nigeria Peter Guschelbauer @GuschelbauerP in my office as we moved to strengthen the health sector cooperation between Nigeria and Austria, especially in the area of development and integration of phytomedicine into orthodox medical practice. It was an opportunity to reflect on the long standing relationship between Nigeria and Austria and the role of an Austrian - Nigerian artist, Sussan Wenger (Adunni Olorisha) in promoting the Osun Osogbo Sacred Groove into a National monument and a UNESCO world heritage site. The Ministerial Committee on the Development and Commercialization of Nigerian Phytomedicine Resources led by the Director General of the National Institute for Pharmaceutical Research and Development (NIPRD) @NIPRD2, Dr. Obi Adigwe @DrAdigwe, which I innagurated a few weeks ago, will be exploring avenues to build partnerships with Austrian public and private players to advance the objectives of the Committee. Going forward, we hope to develop a more robust health sector partnership between 🇳🇬 and 🇦🇹 #SalakoIziaq #HealthSectorRenewal #RenewedHopeAgenda

Very fruitful discussion today between @DrAdigwe and @china_emb_ng for a bespoke bilateral cooperation to explore and strengthen the phytomedicine value chain #MedicinesSecurity

@NIPRD2 is partnering with SPARK GLOBAL to host the annual SPARK Translational Research Bootcamp and Conference in Nigeria, 2-6 February, 2026 to train and educate local African scientists to address the health needs of the continent. Read more sparkglobal.io/spark-global-a… @DrAdigwe

During the week, it was an honour for the Institute to have its Director-General and Chief Executive Officer, @DrAdigwe appointed as Chair, to lead the Ministerial Committee on Commercialization of Phytomedicine Value Chain. This appointment underscores the Institute's contextual innovations such as the novel Contextual Processing Protocol (CPP), which seeks to empower rural women and the youth to process indigenous plants into medicinal products ethically, as well as other efforts to align @NGRPresident’s health sector with the @WHO's Universal Health Coverage (UHC) framework. With this intervention by @FmohNigeria, under the purposeful leadership of the Coordinating Minister @muhammadpate and Honourable Minister of State for Health & Social Welfare @SalakoIziaq, Nigeria is now poised to transition from the periphery to the forefront of the global phytomedicine market. This aligns with @officialABAT’s broader health sector reforms, including the Presidential Initiative to Unlock Value Chains and the Executive Order on Pharma and Allied Sectors. #MedicinesSecurity #Phytomedicine_ValueChain #PresidentialInitiative #MinisterialCommittee

@aproko_doctor Grace preserved you! Thank God for grace

I am grateful to God for life. We don't look like what we've been through.

View my verified achievement from McKinsey & Company. credly.com/badges/b41c8b3… via @credly

@PharmDas @FIP_org @PCN_Registry Congratulations Dr Danraka

So humbled & delighted to receive the Award of Appreciation by the Muslim Pharmacists Association of Nigeria #MPAN during its AGM at the sidelines of 97th Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria #PSN Annual National Conference #Ibom2024 in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State @FIP_org @PCN_Registry

As we commemorate the 22nd African Traditional Medicine Day celebration, we admonish policymakers, stakeholders, and citizens to be reminded of the immense contributions to healthcare access and socioeconomic development that can result from harnessing the vast ethnomedicinal plant body and rich biodiversity of the African continent. For close to four decades, @NIPRD2 has demonstrated robust capacity in the development and commercialization of phytomedicines, pharmaceutical raw materials, drugs, and biological products from Nigeria’s indigenous natural resources. NIPRD emerged as the first institute of its kind to achieve both the ISO 17025 and ISO 9001 certifications and has leveraged this expertise to collaborate with international partners in many groundbreaking areas. The Institute recently received a 200m JPY grant to set up the Nanotechnology Centre for the enablement of phytomedicine development. Harnessing statutory roles and well-established ties, NIPRD maximizes its convening power to engage stakeholders in healthcare, pharma manufacturing, academia, industry, and across multidisciplinary sectors. This approach imbues widespread intervention ownership and also guarantees sustainability. Learning from the last pandemic, the Institute assembled a multidisciplinary team of Professors and Vice-Chancellors to form Nigeria’s first National Scientific Advisory Committee (NSAC). The body developed a reference document for the verification and validation of locally-produced phytomedicines to ensure that citizens’ safety was paramount in the articulation of control measures for the pandemic. This document was distributed widely and has become the cornerstone for evidence-based analysis in the sector. NIPRD has considerable experience in ensuring that interventions led by the Institute are relevant to the whole of Africa. The Institute provided the world’s first categorical report on the Madagascar Covid-Organics preparation, and given the impact of the findings on lives and resources, now routinely collaborates with countries in every region of the continent. Under this administration, we have now focused on the conceptualization and implementation of our world-class Contextual Processing Protocol (CPP). This revolutionary innovation focuses on the harnessing of safe and efficacious phytomedicines towards Universal Health Coverage (UCH) while catalyzing critical socioeconomic indices related to employment generation, capacity building, and revenue generation. Cleverly embedded in the CPP are proprietary initiatives that align with the @NigeriaGov Presidential Initiative to Unlock Healthcare’s Value Chain (PVAC). Leveraging our relationships with partners across Africa, alongside thousands of practitioners we have already trained, we believe that the activation of appropriate regulatory mechanisms can spark widespread development within pan-African partnerships catalyzed by the AfCFTA. Similar to our blockbuster sickle cell phytomedicine, NICLOVIX™, we now have about 50 more game-changing products under development for both infectious and non-communicable diseases. In line with our mandate and pro-collaboration ethos, we hereby commit to continuing to provide leadership and to prioritize engagement with like-minded entities in the promotion of phytomedicinal development throughout the @WHOAFRO region #MedicinesSecurity #2024ATMDay @muhammadpate @DrTunjiAlausa @Pharmanewsltd @aproko_doctor @UNICEFAfrica @WHONigeria @AfricaHealthBiz @Ecowas_cdc @AlikoDangote @Reuters @AFD_en @CNN @BBCWorld @itsLaycon @adekunleGOLD @BUAgroup @AfCFTA @ECA_OFFICIAL @MeneWamkele @segunawo @claverGatete

• UPDATE: ABOLITION OF THE TRAINING OF PHARMACEUTICAL TECHNOLOGISTS - NAPS Takes a Stand "The NAPS leadership reaffirmed its support for the resolution reached by the Ministry of Education, NBTE, and PCN, which allowed current students to graduate but discontinued the HND

Penultimate week, I led a team of colleagues from @NIPRD2 to the Belgian Embassy @BEinNigeria for a high-level meeting led by His Excellency Ambassador @PieterLeenknegt. We provided updates regarding the capacity built over the past three and half decades ago, as well as the world-class contemporary interventions, processes, and products currently under development at the Institute. We discussed how the COVID-19 pandemic made it evident that achieving #MedicinesSecurity emerged, and must remain a global priority. We also reviewed how the pandemic catalyzed collaborations and partnerships with the @EU_Commission and @afreximbank, alongside their respective support for Vaccines R&D and Active Pharmaceutical Ingredient (API)development. To consolidate emergent contextual interventions. We agreed that proactive collaboration remains a key stimulus for expediting global development. This is particularly important, given the Kingdom of Belgium’s ground-breaking position in the pharma sector, biotechnology and similar health-related interventions. With the mandate of @NigeriaGov and the capacity of @NIPRD2, there exist other innovative interventions that can benefit both countries, as well as the rest of the world. Worthy of note is the Contextual Processing Protocol (CPP) developed to enable the ingenious harness of indigenous flora with ethno-medicinal properties. Embedded in the CPP are proprietary initiatives that strongly align with the Presidential Initiative to Unlock Healthcare’s Value Chain. These are aimed at improving access to healthcare, whilst also achieving critical socio-economic objectives such as employment generation and capacity building. In line with these emergent synergies, pharma and healthcare are poised to feature prominently in upcoming High-Level Event @NgBeLuBusForum themed: Activating Viable Partnerships for Economic Growth and Sustainability. This will hold at the Tangla Hotel in Brussels, from the 18th to the 20th of September. We encourage all interested pharma and health-related Entities to leverage this opportunity, and we are available to provide relevant advisory and support, where necessary. @officialNEPZA @ACCINigeria @aproko_doctor @Univercells_sa @NIDOEurope1 @nigeriabrussels @CredendoEN @DEMEgroup @nipcng @DiplomaticVista @diploworld @Wallonia_BE @AWEX_Belgium @LuxembourgLU @ebury_fintech @thegoldate @tgpharma2 @tale_beer @ASPAC_Technics @kipcodamaco @Transautomobile

Public health strategies have contributed significantly to access to relevant interventions in healthcare. @DrAdigwe has demonstrated resolve to sustain contextual partnerships in providing evidence-based solutions with its recent engagement with @EmbEspAbuja and @BEinNigeria