Leadership (Abuja)
Gowon Emakpe
23 October 2007
Abuja — Pfizer, the pharmaceutical company in the centre of a clinical test scandal, has shown that it has no regret for allegedly administering an untested and unregistered drug on about 200 children in Kano State in 1996, leading to their death.
Also the federal government has, in a motion ex-parte, got the leave of a Federal High Court in Abuja to amend its writ of summons.
Mr. Ezedi Udom, head, media relations speciality to Pfizer, said in a press release in Abuja yesterday that Pfizer stands by the results of the clinical trial of the drug Trovaflosacin and will vigorously defend it in court.
According to him, the company conducted the study in the midst of the ravaging epidemic, believing that Trovan would prove to be a safe and effective alternative to conventional methods of treating the meningitis epidemic .
Pfizer has already filed a statement of defence in the Kano State civil case.
The company maintains that in conducting the Trovan clinical trial in 1996, its long-term goal was to test a life-saving antibiotic that could be used effectively in a meningitis epidemic in developing countries.
Pfizer states that before conducting the study, it had obtained all necessary approvals from relevant federal and Kano State government agencies in Nigeria.
Mr. Udom added that at the time of the 1996 clinical trials in Kano, Trovan was in the late-stage development and had been tested on more than 5,000 patients on both oral and intravenous forms.
He explained that those studies demonstrated Trovan to be effective against several types of bacteria known to cause meningitis, to have excellent activity against all meningitis pathogens and to penetrate very well into the cerebrospinal fluid to effectively treat meningitis.
Pfizer contends that many of the allegations in all of the federal and civil cases are rooted in a never officially released government report that Pfizer contends is unconstitutional.
At yesterday's sitting, after hearing submissions, counsel to the federal government, Mr. Babantude Irukere, Justice Babs Kuemi granted a motion ex-parte to the federal government to amend its writ of summon by including Neimeth International Pharmaceutical Plc to replace Pfizer Nigeria.
The matter has been adjourned to December 4, 2007 for mention.
The federal government is asking the court to award $700 billion damages against the pharmaceutical firm.
At the previous sitting, the court gave the federal government the nod to issue writ of summons on Pfizer Incorporated and four other companies outside Nigeria by courier.
But Pfizer, according to Udom, contends that the investigative committee that produced the report "acted in excess of its powers"and denied the company the opportunity to hear the testimony of witnesses or to cross-examine them.
Last July, Pfizer filed a motion at a Federal High Court in Abuja seeking to quash the government's report.
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