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Pfizer has begun compensating participants in clinical trials in Nigeria
Last reviewed: 30.06.2025
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Pharmaceutical company Pfizer has begun paying compensation to participants in clinical trials of the drug Trovan (trovafloxacin), which took place in the Nigerian province of Kano in the 1990s. According to AFP, the first four payments of $175,000 each were received by parents of children who died during the study.
Antibiotic trials were organized by Pfizer in Nigeria in 1996. At that time, the country was hit by a powerful epidemic of meningococcal meningitis, which resulted in the death of about 12 thousand people, mostly children.
The study, which compared the effectiveness of trovafloxacin with standard treatment for meningitis, involved 200 children who became ill, 11 of whom later died and dozens more became disabled.
In 1997, Nigerian authorities demanded compensation from the pharmaceutical company for the families of deceased and injured children. The Nigerian side initially estimated the amount of damage at $7.5 billion.
For years, Pfizer representatives rejected the Nigerians' claims, emphasizing that the research had saved dozens of children's lives. However, in 2009, the pharmaceutical company reached an agreement with Nigeria after the African country's government's claim was accepted for consideration by a US court. During the negotiations, the compensation amount was reduced to $75 million, that is, exactly 100 times.
Under the terms of the agreement, Nigerians' eligibility for compensation payments must be confirmed by DNA testing, the results of which are compared with Pfizer's available samples of study participants. So far, eight out of 546 applicants have passed the tests.
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