Researchers into herbal medicines and vaccines for COVID-19 can now access N50 million grant from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
The CBN in the guidelines released at the weekend, said research activities will attract ?50 million, while development/manufacturing activities will attract a maximum of N500 million.
According to the guidelines “disbursement under the scheme shall be made to beneficiaries in tranches subject to achieved approved milestones.”
Once the grant is awarded to researchers and/or developers, the CBN said it will “have proprietary right over all financed R&D outcomes or products.”
Also, licensing protocol for the mass manufacturing of developed drugs, phytomedicines and vaccines, the CBN said “shall be defined by the Body of Experts (BoE) in accordance with the World Health Organisation’s current Good Manufacturing Practices (cGMP).”
The guidelines state that Body of Experts (BoE) shall be responsible for the review and evaluation of submitted research proposals.