Harvestfield Commences Local Production of Insecticide-Treated Nets - THISDAYLIVE

Harvestfield Healthcare FZE has commenced commercial production of Synera DuoForte, a next-generation insecticide-treated nets in Nigeria, marking a new phase in the country’s capacity to manufacture a critical malaria prevention intervention locally.

Operations at the company’s manufacturing facility in the Harvestfield Free Trade Zone, Ogun State, commenced on 13 September 2026, with the facility already supplying a World Bank-funded programme reaching 31 states.

According to a statement, the facility is the first of its kind in Nigeria to be wholly Nigerian-owned and manufactures dual active ingredient long-lasting insecticidal nets of the pyrethroid-chlorfenapyr class. Harvestfield manufactures the nets under a manufacturing agreement with GDM Health Products, producing Synera DuoForte, a dual active ingredient long-lasting insecticidal net developed and owned by GDM.

Unlike conventional insecticide-treated nets that rely primarily on pyrethroids, these nets combine a pyrethroid with a second insecticide that works through a different mode of action.

The distinction is significant as mosquito populations across much of Nigeria have developed resistance to pyrethroid insecticides. While conventional nets can continue to provide a physical barrier, resistance can reduce their insecticidal effect. Dual active ingredient nets are designed to remain effective in areas where pyrethroid resistance has taken hold, and the World Health Organisation recommends this class of net for areas with established pyrethroid resistance.

Synera DuoForte is a WHO-prequalified product, developed and held under prequalification by GDM Health Products. The Harvestfield manufacturing site in Ogun State is also included as an approved manufacturing location under that prequalification, and the facility is separately certified by the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) and ISO certified. These standards provide the foundation for manufacturing nets for national malaria programmes and other health interventions requiring internationally recognised quality systems.

Commenting on the development, a representative of GDM Health Products, Jon Bastow, said: “GDM is pleased to strategically partner with Harvestfield to bring Synera DuoForte to Nigeria, the country with the biggest global malaria burden, and support the prequalification of Harvestfield’s Ogun State manufacturing facility to make Synera DuoForte.”

Also commenting, the Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Professor Muhammad Ali Pate, said:“Building the capacity to manufacture our own health products is central to Nigeria’s health security. A Nigeria-based facility producing next-generation insecticide-treated nets to international standard, and already supplying programmes across thirty-one states, is the kind of capability the Renewed Hope agenda was created to build.”

For Harvestfield, the move into manufacturing builds on more than two decades of experience in Nigeria’s vector control sector. The Harvestfield group has operated in Nigerian vector control for 26 years, delivering more than 42 million insecticide-treated nets across all 36 states and serving as an exclusive national distribution partner for WHO-prequalified nets since 2018.

The transition from distribution to manufacturing also strengthens the domestic supply chain for insecticide-treated nets. Producing locally reduces dependence on overseas supply schedules and the 45 to 60-day ocean journey associated with imported nets, while creating greater capacity to respond as malaria control needs and insecticide resistance patterns evolve.

“PVAC exists to move Nigeria from importing its health products to making them. What matters is not only that a factory exists, but that it meets the standards international buyers accept and can supply at national scale. A facility based in Nigeria doing both is precisely the outcome this initiative was created to unlock.”

The investment also creates local manufacturing, technical, quality and regulatory capabilities that can support the production of other health products over time. For Harvestfield, the net manufacturing facility represents the first platform in a broader effort to build healthcare manufacturing capability in Nigeria.

This development is aligned with the Federal Government’s focus on strengthening domestic production of health products under the Renewed Hope agenda for health, the Presidential Initiative for Unlocking the Healthcare Value Chain (PVAC), and the Nigeria First procurement policy.

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