BY NKECHI NAECHE-ESEZOBOR—-National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), has refuted claims that exit of GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) pharmaceutical company is not responsible for increase in prices of drugs in the country.
The Director-General, Prof. Mojisola Adeyeye, disclosed this while responding to speculations that the exit of GSK had affected the prices of drugs in the country on Friday in Lagos.
According to her the first reason for the increment in the prices of drug is that the value of naira has depreciated.
“Before the planned exit of GSK from the country, prices of commodities general has gone up and some of the products GSK produced has decreased.
“From the regulatory perspective, we encourage local manufacturing and GSK have collaborated with local manufacturers. So it is not like they import everything.
“The issue of foreign exchange is huge for some of the multinational companies. “They generate funds and it becomes difficult to repatriate the money back to their parent company where other developments will take place.”
In August, this year, GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) announced plans to discontinue operations in Nigeria, ending its 51-year existence in the country after the company’s first office was opened in Lagos on July 1, 1972.
The British multinational pharmaceutical and biotechnology company is best known for household brands like Panadol and Sensodyne.
In a corporate filing, the pharmaceutical giant said it would now adopt a distributor-led model to supply the country with its products.
GSK Nigeria said it was working with its advisers to determine the next steps and intends to submit a scheme of arrangement to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for the possible return of capital to its local shareholders.
