Shall we ever produce our drug ingredients?
Sep 15, 2009
EDITOR—Last month I wrote the truth that in Uganda, we are still not making drugs, but assembling or compounding active ingredients and expients imported from other countries.
EDITOR—Last month I wrote the truth that in Uganda, we are still not making drugs, but assembling or compounding active ingredients and expients imported from other countries.
A fellow pharmacist in one of the drug industries used the word “manufactureâ€, to claim that I misled the public.
In my article, I used the word make, not manufacture. Instead of burying our heads in the sand, I would like to ask the Government and managers of drug companies to look into this matter so that in five or 10 years’ time, we can make the active ingredients and expients for the drugs we need.
Over 90% of synthetic drugs are made from petroleum products and soon, we will be a petroleum producing country. This means we can start producing denovo petroleum products and drug molecules without importing them.
We also have a rich flora from which we can extract active ingredients for direct use or for semi-synthesis before compounding them into drug products.
We may not be able to produce all the drugs we need, but at least we should make essential ones like antimalarials and antiretrovirals.
It is sad that no local company can even synthesise simple drugs like aspirin and paracetamol.
We have come along way in setting up large compounding units and I commend local investors and the Government for this. But we must move forward and begin synthesising active ingredients.
In pharmacy school, we used to synthesise simple drugs like aspirin and paracetamol, but after graduating, we found that no local drug industry has a drug synthesing unit. They simply import all active ingredients, which makes us dependent and vulnerable.
Patrick Ogwang Engeu
pharmacist and pharmacologist
A fellow pharmacist in one of the drug industries used the word “manufactureâ€, to claim that I misled the public.
In my article, I used the word make, not manufacture. Instead of burying our heads in the sand, I would like to ask the Government and managers of drug companies to look into this matter so that in five or 10 years’ time, we can make the active ingredients and expients for the drugs we need.
Over 90% of synthetic drugs are made from petroleum products and soon, we will be a petroleum producing country. This means we can start producing denovo petroleum products and drug molecules without importing them.
We also have a rich flora from which we can extract active ingredients for direct use or for semi-synthesis before compounding them into drug products.
We may not be able to produce all the drugs we need, but at least we should make essential ones like antimalarials and antiretrovirals.
It is sad that no local company can even synthesise simple drugs like aspirin and paracetamol.
We have come along way in setting up large compounding units and I commend local investors and the Government for this. But we must move forward and begin synthesising active ingredients.
In pharmacy school, we used to synthesise simple drugs like aspirin and paracetamol, but after graduating, we found that no local drug industry has a drug synthesing unit. They simply import all active ingredients, which makes us dependent and vulnerable.
Patrick Ogwang Engeu
pharmacist and pharmacologist