Kaltungo, Gombe State, Nigeria

A counter-example to the FAV-Afrique collapse: effective, region-matched African antivenom developed and sustained through public-academic partnership rather than a purely commercial market. EchiTAb-G (ovine, monospecific for West African saw-scaled viper Echis ocellatus, made by MicroPharm, UK) became standard of care in Nigeria. EchiTAb-Plus-ICP (equine, polyspecific for E. ocellatus, Naja nigricollis and Bitis arietans, made by Instituto Clodomiro Picado, Costa Rica) was developed to broaden coverage. Both use caprylic-acid-purified whole IgG and were validated in Nigerian patients in a randomised non-inferiority trial at Kaltungo. Immunogens were sourced from local venom populations, which is the key reason these products succeeded where imported non-local antivenoms had failed.