The Center of Awareness Food Supplement (COA FS) has bounced back with a new brand name, COA Mixture produced in a revamped state-of-art research and manufacturing center.
The name of the revamped production facility has been also been changed from COA Herbal Center to COA Research and Manufacturing Company Limited (COA RMCL) due to be commissioned this week at Wusorkrom in the Abura-Asebu-Kwamankese District of the Central Region.
This comes after the Food and Drugs Authority (FDA) issued COA RMCL with a letter dated September 10, 2020 revoking the suspension of production of COA Mixture.
It also comes at a time when the brain behind COA Mixture, Professor Samuel Ato Duncan has been honored with another professorial award by Academic Union of Oxford in the United Kingdom.
It would be recalled that on March 31, 2020, the Food and Drug Authority (FDA) recalled two batches of COA FS from the market after tests proved they were contaminated with microbial substances.
The FDA subsequently suspended the Marketing Authorization Certificate of COA, following which production was put on hold to pave way for a major rehabilitation of the entire factory to correct the identified anomalies.
The company complied with the recall order and safely disposed of the said contaminated products under the strict supervision of the FDA and the police.
Subsequently, the company undertook millions of Ghana cedis worth of rehabilitation at the factory, with installations of state-of-the-art equipment to turn it into a fully-fledged research and manufacturing center.
FDA then issued COA with the necessary certificates and approvals indicating their satisfaction with all the measures taken since the suspension of production.
Firstly, FDA issued COA with a certificate to indicate it was satisfied with the safe disposal of the contaminated products. It then conducted a Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP) assessment exercise at the factory in May, 2020 and issued a report indicating it was satisfied.
The FDA finally reviewed and approved a Corrective and Preventive Action (CAPA) plan presented by COA, after which it conduced a GMP training for all COA RMCL staff.
It was after all the rigorous processes that FDA finally issued COA with a letter on September 10, 2020 revoking the suspension of production.
The factory is there now all set for recommissioning to pave the way for production of the efficacious food supplement under the new name of COA Mixture.
Since the product went of the market, some retailers hoarded a few and sold them at thrice the original prices. But as production is set to begin from the revamped state-of-the-art factory, the company assures Ghanaians and customers around the world that the price will soon normalize.
Oxford Award
In a related development, the vision bearer behind COA Mixture, Prof. Samuel Ato Duncan has been honored yet a again with another professorial award by the Academic Union of Oxford in the United Kingdom.
The award, titled “Honorary Professor of the Academic Union, Oxford, UK” was presented to the Prof. Duncan on July 1, 2020, and only goes to show the global recognition he has gained for his commitment to world peace through medical research into cure for viral diseases and cancers.
Prof. Duncan was first awarded an Honorary Professor of Research by the Alfred Nobel University (ANU) in Ukraine at a ceremony in Accra, where several others, including President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo also received various categories of honorary awards.
The ANU award conferred on Prof. Duncan was in recognition of what the university described as “his extraordinary contribution to quality research”, particularly in the health sector.
