National Institute for Pharmaceutical Research and Development (NIPRD) has said its analysis of the Madagascar herb did not show any evidence that the herb could cure COVID-19.
Director-General of the agency, Dr Obi Adigwe made the disclosure in Abuja during an interview with newsmen.
He said;
The Minister of Health gave us the mandate to find out if COVID Organics (CVO) can cure COVID-19, and we did not get any evidence that it can. This is because our analysis shows there is no evidence that it can cure COVID-19.
The President of Madagascar, Andry Rajoelina had in April 2020 launched the herbal formula claiming it is a cure for COVID-19.
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When asked the reason for different result findings from Madagascar, Dr Adigwe said the country is hiding its analysis of the product.
He said;
The analysis we gave in our report is more detailed than anything they had 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.
Adigwe said NIPRID is working on a product for the virus and that it has shown a lot of promise, stressing;
We have finished pre-clinical studies. We are now trying to package it for the clinical trial and that is a great deal of work.
He, however, said that the agency has not gotten any funding for the product research till date, adding that if the agency gets the requisite funds, it could present something worthwhile in the next six months.
A copy of NIPRID’s report on the investigation on the Madagascar herb obtained by Daily Trust showed;
COVID Organics- Green Pack (GPA) and Orange Pack (OPB) herbal products contain Artemisia annua as one of the components. Both samples had the characteristic features of Artemisia annua similar to those of the plant grown in NIPRD.
COVID Organsics (OPB and GPA) contains other plants in addition to Artemisia annua.
Unlike the impression created by the labelling, the two COVID Organics products are not the same with GPA sweeter with a higher extractive value than OPB.
It added;
Safety studies show that COVID ORGANICS (CVO) products do not alter the normal physiology of the animals.
CVO reduced cough frequency with the maximum dose tested producing an effect equivalent to that produced by the centrally acting cough-suppressant, dihydrocodeine.
While CVO dose-dependently reduced general febrile response, the effect was not sustained and was less than for indomethacin.
