Metronidazole Brands in Nigeria: Flagyl, Loxagyl, Emzor, Caregyl and Who Makes Them

The short answer

Metronidazole is one of the most-dispensed antibiotics in Nigeria, for amoebiasis, giardiasis, bacterial vaginosis and anaerobic infections, and almost all of it is locally made. The names you will meet:

• Flagyl — Sanofi. The imported originator and the price ceiling.
• Loxagyl and Ricogyl — long-established generic brands found in most pharmacies and open markets.
• Emzor Metronidazole — Emzor Pharmaceutical Industries, Lagos.
• Caregyl — Dizpharm Nigeria Limited, Ibusa, Delta State (NAFDAC Reg. 04-2653).

Other Nigerian manufacturers hold current metronidazole registrations too. Because registrations lapse and brands change hands, the NAFDAC Greenbook search for "metronidazole" is the list to trust on any given day.

Strengths and presentations

• 200mg tablets — the traditional Nigerian strength, dosed 400mg (two tablets) three times daily for most adult indications.
• 400mg tablets — one-tablet dosing, increasingly preferred by prescribers.
• 200mg/5ml oral suspension — for children.
• 500mg/100ml IV infusion — hospital use, mostly imported.

Tablets come blister-packed (1×10 monopacks or 10×10 boxes) and in 1,000-tablet cups for dispensing pharmacies and hospitals. Film-coated tablets mask the bitter taste that uncoated metronidazole is known for; ask which you are being quoted.

The rule that shapes who can sell it

Metronidazole is a prescription-class antibiotic. That has two practical consequences for anyone buying at wholesale:

• It must be wholesaled and retailed from PCN-licensed premises with a registered superintendent pharmacist.
• It is not on the PPMV approved list, so a patent medicine shop cannot lawfully stock it. Manufacturers and distributors selling responsibly will ask for your PCN licence.

Our guide to antibiotic distribution rules and antimicrobial resistance covers the detail.

What wholesale buyers compare

• Price per 1,000 tablets at the strength you dispense — 200mg and 400mg are not interchangeable on price.
• Coating and presentation — film-coated versus plain, blister print quality, tamper evidence.
• MOQ and terms — carton minimum, mixed orders, credit after a track record.
• Lead time to your state; Delta and South-East plants are same-week to Onitsha, Asaba, Enugu, Owerri and Benin.

Indicative Dizpharm trade figures for the current month; the exact carton price is quoted on WhatsApp.

Where Caregyl fits

Caregyl is Dizpharm's metronidazole, registered as NAFDAC 04-2653 and manufactured at Ibusa since the 1990s. It is supplied in blister packs and 1,000-tablet cups, in the classic white tablet and a newer yellow presentation, from a one-carton minimum. Distributors must hold a PCN premises licence.

How to verify any brand before you stock it

Whatever brand you settle on, the check is the same and takes two minutes:

1. Find the NAFDAC registration number on the immediate pack (blister, cup or bottle label), not only on the carton.
2. Search it on the NAFDAC Greenbook. The entry should show the same product name, strength, pack size and the same registrant or manufacturer as the pack.
3. Check the expiry date and batch number are printed, not stickered, and that the carton and inner packs agree.
4. For wholesale, buy from the manufacturer or an authorised distributor, and get the invoice in the registered company's name.

Step-by-step, with screenshots: how to verify a NAFDAC registration number. Every Dizpharm product page also carries a "Verify this product" section linking its own Greenbook entry.

Frequently asked questions