January 27, 2023

The Nigeria Natural Medicine Development Agency (NNMDA) said that its Koviron produced at the advent of COVID-19 has high potency in the management of the virus and other upper tract respiratory infections.

Dr Samuel Etatuvie, Director-General of the agency said this on Friday in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja.

Etatuvie said the drugs have been listed by the National Agency for Food and Drugs Administration and Control (NAFDAC) for registration alongside four other of their products.

“From the work we have done on Koviron, it has been found to have higher affinity for the binding site of the main suspected enzyme that is implicated in COVID-19 infection.

“The converting enzyme binds with Coronavirus to drive the virus into the source thereby affecting the body system.

“Our products have a high affinity for the binding site of the enzyme as compared to the major drugs used during the emergence of Covid-19, specifically dexamethasone and hydroxychloroquine.

“Our product has about three times higher affinity for the molecular research we have conducted as compared to these other products, so that gives the product an edge,’’ he said.

Etatuvie further said that research was still on-going about Koviron to discover more prospects, adding that they are working with Bio-Safety Lab Three to get the final result.

According to him, when the result is out, we will make a public presentation on the result obtained.

“This product is not just for Covid, I believe it is for the future because pandemics have a way of reoccurring from history and Covid is not leaving anytime soon.

“Apart from the management of covid, the product has been found to be very effective in the management of other upper respiratory tract infections such as cough, emphysema, symptoms associated with pneumonia and any form of difficulty in breathing.

“The product has very good prospects which the Nigerian populace will benefit from.”

Etatuvie emphasised that the country needed to be very intentional in fighting COVID-19 pandemic.

Other products he mentioned that had been listed by NAFDAC include: NNMDA’s herbal tea for men used for the management of erectile dysfunction

The director-general claimed: “A lot of men in the society are under pressure to perform their sexual duties resulting from burdens, stress and psychological challenges.”

He said the product was targeted at families and as well address issues of infertility.

“We also have the NNMDA herbal vaginal wash, a product for the management of vaginosis, for odour, vagina infection.

“The vaginal wash also enhances libido in women by tightening the walls of the vagina and that encourages sexual activities.

“Another one is the NNMDA herbal tea for the management of high blood sugar otherwise known as diabetes and the product is very effective,’’ he added.

He further said they have NNMDA soap with triple action, antifungal, antibacterial and anti-inflammatory used for the management of dermatological infections and hand sanitizer.

Etatuvie, however, said the soap sanitizer was still expected to be listed by NAFDAC early in 2023.

The NNMDA boss said that testimonies abound from people that had used their products over the years, hence the need for them to get NAFDAC’s registration.

He added that they have collaborations with a lot of companies and were working on giving out the products for licensing for a period of five to ten years subject to review.

According to him, licensing the products to their collaborating companies will enable them to commercialise them.

Etatuvie said: “We are also working on the acceptability by the orthodox system, while we are looking forward to seeing our products in community pharmacies, in hospitals being prescribed by health care practitioners.’’(NAN)