Dr Obi Peter Adigwe

Biography

Dr Obi Adigwe is the Director General / Chief Executive Officer of the National Institute for Pharmaceutical Research and Development, Africa’s Premier Phytomedicine Research, Innovation and Development Institute. Prior to this, he was the Executive Secretary of the Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Group of the Manufacturers’ Association of Nigeria (PMG-MAN). Dr Adigwe was the pioneer Head of the Health Policy Research and Development (HPRD) Unit at the Nigerian National Assembly where he formulated research and development strategies in Health Policy with a view to developing an Evidence-based approach to Legislation and Policy formulation in Nigeria. Dr Adigwe is a Healthcare Researcher, a Professional in Policy Making and Management with over 20 years of knowledge both in Nigeria and internationally. Dr Adigwe has headed and served on numerous Committees and Expert Working Groups at both national and international levels, including the D-8, United Nations, World Health Organization, The African Union and ECOWAS. He is widely published in medical peer review journals in his areas of expertise including holding the first Knowledge Attitudes and Perceptions study on Ebola in Nigeria as well as a seminal paper on Rational Use of Medicines. Based on his efforts and other stakeholders the Nigerian Government signed a 6 Billion Naira Partnership to manufacture vaccines locally. Since his assumption of office, NIPRD has crawled into a first class organization playing a prominent role in the management of the COVID19 pandemic. Dr Adigwe upon assumption of office brought to bear his wealth of experience in the pharmaceutical industry hence contributing to both national and global COVID-19 response with a significant proportion of the contribution focused on African Traditional Medicines; an effort that provided the internationally acclaimed analysis that underpinned government's categorical position on the Madagascar COVID-19 Organics preparation.
The COVID-19 Organics analysis went viral internationally with scientists and policymakers around the world referencing NIPRD's seminal work on the product. Under his leadership the institute piloted local production of alcohol based hand sanitizers using WHO recommended and other relevant contextual formulae. They also developed relevant Databases of Critical Pharmaceuticals and Commodities with activity against COVID-19 using Artificial Intelligence (AI). Dr Adigwe also developed the Contextual Processing Protocol (CCP) concept, which is aimed at harnessing local resources across Nigeria for the purpose of producing active pharmaceutical ingredients and other raw materials use in pharmaceutical production. He is a Mentor and Capacity developer amongst Researchers and Policy Practitioners on various platforms in Nigeria.