Nigerian company to make HIV, malaria test kits after US funding cut

Nigerian manufacturer Codix Bio Ltd plans to make millions of HIV and malaria test kits at its new plant outside Lagos for the local and regional market to help fill gaps in the wake of cutbacks at US donor agency USAID, a company executive says.

The US, the world's largest humanitarian aid donor, has cut funding for foreign assistance, half of which is delivered via USAID.

The US support to Nigeria, which reached $740m (R13.37bn) in 2024 based on USAID data, is focused on preventing malaria and curbing HIV as well as delivering vaccines to local health centres across the country.

It is not yet clear how Nigeria will be affected by the cuts. The Nigerian government has said it will raise funds to continue some of the programmes that donors supported.

Codix Bio general manager Olanrewaju Balaja said the company will roll out kits later this month from its plant in partnership with the South Korean pharmaceutical producer SD Biosensor and support from the World Health Organisation (WHO).

The plant has an initial capacity to produce 147-million kits annually, but this can be expanded to over 160-million.

"From the statistics of what is supplied (by USAID and Pepfar) for a specific programme year, and looking at what we have currently in capacity for Nigeria, we have enough capacity to meet the demand," Balaja told Reuters.

He said if the company scaled up operations, "we can go to West and sub-Saharan Africa, including other African countries".

Nigeria has the highest burden of malaria globally, according to WHO, with nearly 27% of the global burden. The country also has the world's fourth highest burden of HIV, according to UNAIDS.

"The focus was for us to be able to play in the field of supply of rapid diagnostic test kits for donor agencies, which particularly USAID was at the forefront," Balaja added.

Balaja said the Nigerian government and donor agencies like Global Fund were expected to purchase test kits from Codix Bio.

Reuters