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“swiss pharma nigeria Limited (swipha) has continued to explore new frontiers in her bid to keep the customer in the centre of her efforts by providing solutions for their healthcare needs and consequently improving the wellbeing of the nation”
Using this adaptation of the Quality Policy Statement of the company, the Chairman/CEO of swipha, Mr. Colin Cummings, announced the introduction of new products/portfolios by the company. He stated that the move to increase the company’s portfolio and product range stemmed from the demands of the medical community for effective and affordable medicines for treatment of infections, diabetes and hypertension.
Going by the WHO estimation, the incidence of diabetes is expected to increase by 25% over the next decade. Amongst the studies already carried out in Nigeria, Nwafor A and Owhoji A in their study in 2001 indicated that the prevalence of diabetes among Nigerian population in Port-Harcourt is as high as and perhaps comparable with that of the Western countries because of the urbanization and industrialization of Port-Harcourt.
Furthermore, Mr. Cummings informed that the upgrade of the company’s production plant and Quality Control Laboratory has been completed. “It is now world class”, he added. The upgrade of the plant started last year as part of the process for attaining World Health Organization (WHO) Pre-qualification of our anti-malarial, DART®. The formal launch of the facility is billed for the 3rd Quarter of this year.
The new portfolios and the products introduced are:
Anti-diabetics - FORBETIC®, CLABETIC® and SWIBETIC®
Anti-hypertensive - SWIVASC®
Anti-bacterial/Anti-biotics - OCEFIX®
Anti-malarial - ARENAX PLUS®
The anti-diabetics nicknamed “The BETIC Range” are intended for use by the growing number of patients that suffer from diabetes across the different age groups and by both males and females.
SWIVASC is swipha’s first Anti-hypertensive product and it is believed that it will add remarkable value in the management of hypertension.
OCEFIX is a powerful oral 3rd Generation Cephalosporin used to handle difficult infections. With its convenient once-daily dosage regimen, many patients are likely to comply with treatment thereby improving the positive treatment outcome.
ARENAX PLUS is swipha’s latest introduction to its Anti-malarial portfolio. ARENAX PLUS is recommended for the treatment of uncomplicated malaria. It is the preferred Artemisinin Combination Therapy (ACT) in the country and presently the selected ACT for use in the public health sector.
In addition to these products, swipha is equally supporting the diagnosis of diabetes by providing high quality diabetes diagnostic products. Furthermore, Information, Education and Communication (IEC) materials are being provided. Patient information leaflets are now available in key pharmacies nationwide in what is called “Sugar Boxes”. These sugar boxes are part of the materials used in the company’s anti-diabetes campaign tagged “When Sugar Becomes Bitter”.
To quickly acquaint the medical community with information on the new products, OCEFIX has been launched nationwide with over 1000 healthcare professionals in attendance during the various launches.
ARENAX PLUS has also been introduced into the market. Being an over-the-counter (OTC) drug the company has concluded plans to break a media campaign to further educate the populace on the treatment of malaria with ARENAX PLUS.
Mr. Colin Cummings concluded by saying that “swipha is not relenting in her efforts towards continual improvement. We are now the first pharmaceutical company in Nigeria to submit our Expression of Interest to World Health Organization (WHO) as a first step towards the pre-qualification of one of our anti-malarials, DART®. We are therefore, living up to our mission of building a healthier tomorrow, Today.
COLIN CUMMINGS
SWISS PHARMA NIGERIA LIMITED
May 2009 |
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