Gone are the days when clinical research and clinical trials used to be a concept only in the western world. Clinical trials are now a global phenomenon with giant pharma and biotech companies creating a paradigm shift by outsourcing clinical trials to third world developing countries. China, India, Latin America are few top contenders but other countries in the African region have managed to attract the attention of western sponsors too. Nigeria is now amongst one such destination. Clinical trials in Nigeria are picking up pace however with only a few CROs that operate in this region.
Conducting clinical trials in Nigeria has its advantages such as:
1) Availability of Patient Population: Nigeria has the largest patient pool in terms of African race. This helps to collect data which is relevant and collected from all regions and races while conducting a clinical trial. …
2) Regulatory process: The entire clinical trial process in Nigeria is regulated by the Federal Ministry of Health (FMOH). It has 2 functional parts,
a) National Agency for Food, Drugs Administration, and Control (NAFDAC) &;
b) National Health Research Ethics Committee (NHREC):
These regulatory authorities have created a scenic which is in amateur stage yet; however it has defined a healthy environment for good conduct of clinical trials in accordance to GCP (Good Clinical Practices).
3) Developing countries undoubtedly have always been an economical option for US and European pharma giants. Outsourcing to such economical destinations has given them an advantage of investing further into new drug development.
4) Role of NGO and GCP association: There has been a mega share of NGO in creating awareness amongst the patients about clinical trials. The Association for Good Clinical Practice in Nigeria (AGCPN) is continuously putting efforts in creating a GCP complaint atmosphere.
Concluding these factors to quote that Nigeria is also becoming a destination for clinical trials, would be fair enough. Few challenges such as having an expert clinical research professionals is need of hour in countries such as Nigeria who are on the pathway of becoming busy clinical trial destinations in near future. Such a challenge can be met by acquiring expertise in Clinical Research by getting trained from an institute that specializes in providing clinical research training. James Lind Institute, a division of one of India’s fastest growing contract research organizations (Clinexa Life Sciences) is providing multiple, industry oriented clinical research courses in Nigeria to interested candidates. Clinical Research Training in Nigeria provided by James Lind Institute is top notch with students being constantly in touch with their mentors and experienced faculty from India and abroad. Online Clinical Research Courses in Nigeria provided by James Lind Institute will open new opportunities and career growth options for science and pharmacy graduates.