Clinical trials for Lagundi as COVID-19 therapeutic greenlit by DOST

The Department of Science and Technology-Philippine Council for Health Research and Development have approved the clinical trials for lagundi as a COVID-19 therapeutic or supplement.

Photo credit: yoursnaturally.ph

The ethics clearance has been provided by the University of the Philippines (UP)- Manila Research Ethics Board.

In April, DOST started examining the effectiveness of certain herbal medicines against COVID-19. Researchers repurposed lagundi and tawa-tawa as they are existing supplements with anti-viral properties.

Tawa-tawa is known supplement that has active ingredients thay may help with dengue, while lagundi is widely used for cough as a remedy.

“Alam naman natin na yung lagundi ay tanggap na yan bilang gamot sa ubo, sa mga respiratory ailments at yan ang kauna-unahang halamang gamot na nacommercialize through a DOST research as early as the late 80s (We all know that lagundi has been accepted as a cough remedy as well as for respiratory ailments and is the first herbal medicine commercialized by the DOST as early as the late 80s),” the secretary said.

In an interview last month, Dela Pena said: “You can create new formulations with lagundi and tawa-tawa. Even tough it has evidence in treating other diseases, we will be making a different formulation.” 

The clinical trials will be conducted by the UP-Philippine General Hospital. 

Currently, the conduct of trials is still awaiting a go signal from its ongoing application for clearance from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

Meanwhile, Secretary Dela Pena said that tawa-tawa, a supplement for dengue, has also been approved by the DOST-PCHRD but has no clearance yet from UP Manila. 

As of July 18, total cases of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) among Filipinos abroad is at 9,001 while recoveries remain at 5,321 and deaths at 634.