How many brands of Pentazocine are registered with NAFDAC?

Our copy of the NAFDAC Green Book lists 85 Pentazocine products, held by 84 registration holders. That count includes combination products and listings that are no longer active, so check the status of any individual pack in the Green Book before relying on it. You can see the full list, with registration numbers, on our Pentazocine brands page.

Is Pentazocine made in Nigeria?

Of the 70 active Pentazocine registrations whose factory country our Green Book copy records, none are made in Nigeria. The main sources outside Nigeria are India (70). Where a product is made is recorded separately from who holds its registration, and the two are often different companies.

What is pentazocine injection used for?

Pentazocine is a strong opioid painkiller given mainly by injection in hospitals for moderate to severe pain — after surgery or injury, during labour in some maternity units, and sometimes in sickle cell crises. It is administered by trained healthcare workers as part of proper pain management. It is not a medicine for home use or for everyday aches, and it is controlled because of its potential for misuse.

Is pentazocine addictive?

Yes. Pentazocine is an opioid, and like other opioids it can cause tolerance, dependence and addiction with repeated use, along with withdrawal when it is stopped. Because it is an injection, misuse also carries the added dangers of unsterile injecting — abscesses, blood infections, hepatitis and HIV. Used briefly in hospital for genuine pain under supervision, the risk is managed; obtained and injected outside medical care, it is very dangerous.

Is pentazocine a controlled drug in Nigeria?

Yes. Pentazocine is a controlled substance in Nigeria: its importation, storage, prescription and supply are regulated, and it must be handled within licensed hospitals and pharmacies under professional control. It is not a medicine that can legally be sold over the counter or by street vendors. Diversion of pentazocine to the illicit market is a recognised problem, which is why the controls exist.

How is pentazocine different from tramadol?

Both are opioid painkillers with misuse potential, but they differ in chemistry and use. Pentazocine is a 'mixed agonist–antagonist' given mostly by injection in hospital, and it can trigger withdrawal in someone already dependent on morphine-type opioids. Tramadol is usually taken by mouth and is the more widely misused of the two in Nigeria. Neither should be combined with the other, with pregabalin, or with alcohol, and both should only be used on prescription.

What happens in a pentazocine overdose?

Like any opioid, too much pentazocine slows or stops breathing — the person becomes very drowsy or unrousable, their breathing becomes shallow or stops, and their lips may turn blue. This is a life-threatening emergency. Get medical help immediately; if naloxone (an opioid-reversal injection) is available and someone is trained to give it, it can reverse the overdose while waiting for help. The danger is far greater when pentazocine has been mixed with alcohol, sedatives, pregabalin or other opioids.

Pentazocine in Nigeria: Controlled Substance — Dosage, Risks & NAFDAC Status

CONTROLLED SUBSTANCE

Pentazocine is a controlled substance in Nigeria. It is regulated by NAFDAC and the NDLEA. Possession, sale, or distribution without proper authorization is illegal. Only use under medical supervision.

Pentazocine is a strong prescription painkiller in the opioid family, used mainly as an injection to relieve moderate to severe pain. It is a 'mixed agonist–antagonist' opioid: it acts on the body's opioid receptors to block pain, but differently from morphine, which changes both how well it works and its side-effect profile. In Nigeria it is most familiar as an injection (the original brand name is Fortwin), given in hospitals for pain after surgery or injury, during labour, and sometimes in sickle cell crises. Our copy of the NAFDAC register lists many active pentazocine products, almost all injections.

In the NAFDAC register

85 registered products

from 84 registration holders

In force70 active · 15 lapsed

Where madenone in Nigeria · 70 imported

India70

See all 85 registered brands →

What it costs online

Price varies — check with a pharmacy. This drug has not yet appeared in our fortnightly sampling of Nigerian online pharmacies.

Brands of Pentazocine in Nigeria

Comes as

Solution for injection30 mg/mL· 39 makers
Injection30 mg/mL· 26 makers 30 mg· 4 makers

Those 85 products from 84 registration holders include combination products and older listings; below are the most common brands.

Penzor
Emzor Pharmaceutical Industries
30mg/ml · Injection · A4-6487
Zopent
Greenlife Pharmaceutical Limited
30mg/ml · Injection · A4-5639
Alpent
La-Lid Pharmaceutical Company Limited
30mg/ml · Injection · B4-3655
Pentamax
Biopharma Nigeria Limited
30mg/ml · Injection · B4-6607

Brand Name	Manufacturer	Strength	Form	NAFDAC Reg. No.
Penzor	Emzor Pharmaceutical Industries	30mg/ml	Injection	A4-6487
Zopent	Greenlife Pharmaceutical Limited	30mg/ml	Injection	A4-5639
Alpent	La-Lid Pharmaceutical Company Limited	30mg/ml	Injection	B4-3655
Pentamax	Biopharma Nigeria Limited	30mg/ml	Injection	B4-6607

See all 85 registered Pentazocine brands

Pentazocine Price in Nigeria

Pentazocine prices in Nigeria vary by brand, strength, and where you buy it. Confirm the current price with a licensed pharmacy, and always check the product is NAFDAC-registered before you pay.

We show a price here once it appears in our monthly sampling of Nigerian online pharmacies (MedPlus, HealthPlus), or when we have a reliable market figure. For now, confirm the current price directly with a licensed pharmacy.

How to Verify Your Pentazocine is Genuine

1Check the NAFDAC registration number on the pack — for example, Penzor injection (Emzor) carries A4-6487 in our copy of the register.
2Verify any pentazocine brand's number with our NAFDAC checker.
3Pentazocine is a controlled medicine: it should only be handled and given within licensed hospitals and pharmacies, never bought from vendors or unregistered outlets.
4Any pentazocine offered for sale outside a proper medical setting should be treated as illicit and, ideally, reported — its diversion to the street is exactly what the controls exist to stop.
5For legitimate supply, hospitals and pharmacies confirm the batch, expiry and registration through their normal controlled-drug records.

Use our NAFDAC Checker tool

Where to Buy

Pentazocine is a controlled substance in Nigeria. It is dispensed by a registered pharmacist in a licensed pharmacy or hospital, against a valid prescription — not by open-market traders, roadside vendors or online sellers, and never by the carton. Ogbogwu does not list wholesale sellers for it and does not take bulk requests for it. If you have been prescribed Pentazocine, verify the pack's NAFDAC registration before you take it, and see banned and restricted drugs in Nigeria for what the law says about controlled medicines.

What is Pentazocine?

As a hospital medicine, given by trained staff for genuine pain, pentazocine has a real and useful role. It is on hand in theatres, accident-and-emergency units and maternity wards across the country.

But pentazocine is also an opioid with a recognised risk of dependence, misuse and addiction, and it is a controlled substance in Nigeria — its import, storage and supply are regulated, and it must be prescribed and administered under professional control. Because it is an injection that acts quickly, misuse is particularly dangerous: it carries the risks of unsterile injecting (abscesses, blood infections, hepatitis, HIV) on top of the opioid risks of dependence and slowed breathing. This page describes its legitimate medical use and the dangers of misuse; it is not a guide to obtaining or using pentazocine outside proper medical care.

What is Pentazocine used for?

In Nigeria, Pentazocine is commonly used for:

Moderate to severe acute pain in hospital — after surgery or serious injury
Pain relief during labour, in maternity units that use it
Pain before, during and after some surgical and diagnostic procedures
Sickle cell crisis pain in hospital (though many units prefer other opioids)
Short-term pain control where a strong analgesic is needed under supervision

Dosage

IMPORTANT

Always follow your doctor's or pharmacist's instructions. The information below is for general reference only.

Adults

Pentazocine is dosed and given by healthcare professionals, not self-administered. A typical adult dose is 30mg by injection, repeated every 3 to 4 hours as needed, with the route (into muscle, under the skin, or slowly into a vein) and the exact amount decided by the treating clinician. Tablets, where used, are given in higher milligram doses because much less is absorbed by mouth. There is no safe 'home dose' — this is a controlled hospital medicine.

Children

Pentazocine is used in children only in hospital, at weight-based doses calculated and given by medical staff. It should never be given to a child outside professional care.

Elderly

Older adults are more sensitive to opioids — greater drowsiness, confusion, low blood pressure and breathing depression — and usually need lower doses with close monitoring.

Pentazocine should only be given by, or under the direction of, qualified healthcare workers. It must not be combined with alcohol, sedatives, or other opioids and gabapentinoids (like pregabalin) except under medical supervision, because the combination can stop breathing. A particular caution: because pentazocine partly blocks opioid receptors, giving it to someone dependent on morphine-type opioids can trigger sudden withdrawal. Anyone who finds themselves seeking pentazocine injections outside hospital, or injecting it, needs help urgently.

Side Effects

Common side effects

•Drowsiness and sedation
•Nausea and vomiting
•Dizziness and light-headedness
•Sweating
•Pain, redness or hardening at the injection site

Serious side effects — seek medical help immediately

Slowed or stopped breathing (respiratory depression) — the main danger of any opioid, and worse when combined with sedatives, alcohol, pregabalin or other opioids
Dependence, addiction and withdrawal with repeated use
Hallucinations, confusion, or unusual thoughts (more common with pentazocine than some other opioids)
Serious skin, tissue and vein damage, abscesses and bloodstream infections from repeated or unsterile injection
Transmission of hepatitis or HIV through shared or unsterile needles
Severe allergic reaction
Sudden opioid withdrawal if given to someone dependent on morphine-type opioids

When to see a doctor

Slowed or difficult breathing, extreme drowsiness, or bluish lips after pentazocine is a medical emergency — call for help immediately; opioid overdose can be reversed with naloxone if treated in time. Seek help for signs of injection-site infection (spreading redness, swelling, pus, fever). If you or someone you know is misusing pentazocine or any opioid, get help early — the Federal Ministry of Health drug-help line is toll-free on 0800-10000-2000.

Warnings & Precautions

Do not take Pentazocine if you have:

Known allergy to pentazocine
Severe breathing problems or acute respiratory depression
Head injury or raised pressure in the brain
Physical dependence on morphine-type opioids (can precipitate withdrawal)
Use with great caution in a history of substance misuse, and in liver or kidney impairment

Drug interactions

•Other opioids (tramadol, codeine, morphine) — additive breathing suppression, and pentazocine can trigger withdrawal in the opioid-dependent
•Pregabalin, benzodiazepines and other sedatives — dangerous combined sedation and breathing risk
•Alcohol — increased sedation and respiratory depression
•Monoamine oxidase inhibitors (MAOIs) — potentially serious reactions
•Medicines that cause drowsiness generally

Pregnancy & Breastfeeding

Pentazocine is used in labour in some units, but regular use in pregnancy is avoided because opioids can affect the baby and cause withdrawal in the newborn if used near delivery. Small amounts pass into breast milk. Any use in pregnancy or breastfeeding is a decision for the medical team caring for the mother, weighing the specific situation.

Related Resources for Pentazocine

Guides, articles, and tools related to Pentazocine and other pain & fever medicines in Nigeria.

Frequently Asked Questions

Sources

•NAFDAC Greenbook — the official database of all products registered with Nigeria's National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control. Brand-level NAFDAC numbers for Pentazocine on this page were cross-referenced against the Greenbook.
•British National Formulary (BNF) dosing and interaction guidance for Pentazocine.
•Nigerian Standard Treatment Guidelines (Federal Ministry of Health).

Last updated: 2 August 2026

Daily puzzle: Meddle — pair five brands with their medicines. New game at midnight.

Pentazocine