May and Baker Plc, which affirmed that it was recently contracted by NAFDAC to manufacture one million tablets of chloroquine for the clinical trial, said the production was one of three batches meant for emergency stock.

The Managing Director, May & Baker Plc, Nnamdi Okafor, told Saturday PUNCH in an exclusive interview that May and Baker had finished the production of “one million tablets of chloroquine” for the first batch of the proposed clinical trial.

When asked about the date for the proposed clinical trial, Okafor told one of our correspondents that he was not aware.

“I really don’t know when the clinical trial would commence, but I want to believe that the government is still putting its protocol together,” he added.

He also said he didn’t know when the second batch of production would commence as the company had not received approval for the second batch.

Meanwhile, the company is touted to undertake the clinical trial in the country, Sanofi Nigeria, has said it has not been approached by NAFDAC for a clinical trial.

The General Manager and Country Chair (Nigeria and Ghana), Sanofi, Folake Odediran, however, noted that an independent group in affiliation with the World Health Organisation and working with Lagos State had contacted the company (Sanofi).

She added that the proposal on the proposed clinical trial was still being looked into and no decision had been taken on it.

When asked for clarification concerning the involvement of Sanofi in the clinical trial, she said,

“We do not produce chloroquine in Nigeria neither do we market it locally. We are also at the moment not yet involved in any clinical trial with chloroquine in Nigeria.”

Also, the Medical Director of Sanofi Nigeria, Dr Philip Ikeme, said Sanofi as a global company was in collaboration with the WHO in conducting research.

He confirmed that the company had received a request from an independent body to conduct clinical trial on chloroquine in Nigeria but was still keenly looking into the proposal.