For those who cannot afford hospitalization and medicines against COVID-19, the use of tawa-tawa (Euphorbia hirta) extract as an adjunctive treatment for the viral disease will be a great help.
The Phase 2 clinical trial on tawa-tawa to treat mild and moderate COVID-19 cases is underway and is expected to be finished by September this year.
“Kalabanan sa aton pumuluyo indi gid ka sarang kag gadepend lang sa government hospitals,” Dr. Philip Ian Padilla, the principal investigator of the clinical trial, in an interview on IMT Conversations.
Padilla is a physician, Professor of Microbiology and the current Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs of the University of the Philippines in the Visayas (UPV).
He said the trial is funded by the Department of Science and Technology’s (DOST) Philippine Council for Health Research and Development through under the Comprehensive Drug Discovery Program or “Tuklas Lunas.”
Tawa-tawa is abundant throughout the Philippines and it can be cultivated easily.
Padilla said equipment for the development of tawa-tawa extract capsules is already in place.
Currently, there is only one authorized local manufacturer of tawa-tawa supplement in the country and it is based in Bacolod City. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved it as an herbal supplement and not as an herbal drug against COVID-19 yet.
“Since ang dengue kag COVID-19 pareho nga virus ginatan-aw naton kon epektibo gid bala ang tawa-tawa sa COVID-19,” said Padilla.
More than 100 COVID-positive patients with mild and moderate symptoms were recruited to take part in the clinical trial.
Padilla said the third phase of the clinical trial will involve more patients and there is already a specific dosage. If its effect can already be seen to a larger population, it can already be labelled as an herbal drug.IMT
