Director-General, National Institute for Pharmaceutical Research and Development (NIPRD), Dr. Obi Adigwe, has said there is no evidence that the Madagascar drug, COVID Organics herbal mixture, can treat COVID-19 as claimed.
He stated that while the Minister of Health, Dr. Osagie Ehanire, gave the institute mandate to find out if the COVID Organics could cure COVID-19, there was no evidence in that regard.
He said: “This is because our analysis shows there is no evidence that it can cure COVID-19. There is no evidence for that.”
Reacting to the claim by Madagascar that the COVID Organics had cured people with the disease, he said, “Well, I cannot tell you what they have done. I can only tell you what we have done here.
“The analysis we gave in our report is more detailed than anything that had come from their country. They are hiding the analysis of their own product. If you go online, you cannot get the level of analysis that we gave.
“They are hiding a lot of things and I think it is possible that they know that they don’t have strong science backing up their claim. But, our own analysis does not show any proof that it can cure COVID-19.”
Speaking on the current effort of NIPRD to get a product that could cure the disease in Nigeria, Adigwe said, “You know, science takes time and it also needs a lot of money. That is what most people don’t understand.
READ ALSO: Madagascar receives $2.13m from ARC Insurance Company
“There is one product we have that is having a lot of promise. We have finished passing it through the pre-clinical studies. Where we are now is that we are trying to package it for the clinical trial and that is a great deal of work.
“We are moving in a forward direction.We have hope that the product will give a succor.”
While responding to the question on getting any financial support from individuals or corporate organisations, the NIPRD DG, said there had been some positive progress, “but not on the stage that we can be categorical about it. But, there has been some progress.
“We have submitted letter, they have asked for concept note and we have done that and also submitted full proposal. There is some positive progress but there hasn’t been any release of funds so far.”
On how long Nigerians could get something from NIPRD that could cure the disease, he said, “If things all come together and we get the needed funding, within the next six months, we should be able to have something categorical within.”
It would be recalled that President Muhammadu Buhari on May 16, received the herbal remedy from the Madagascar government, but said he would await research outcome before allowing any new medicine to be administered on Nigerians.
Since its launch in April, the use of the Malagascar herbal remedy to treat COVID-19 patients had been trailed by controversies.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) had cautioned countries against adopting a product that had not undergone thorough scientific research, and advised governments to clinically test the Madagascar herbal drink before using it to treat COVID-19.
