Over the years, the Philippines has the highest number of cases and confirmed casualties caused by deadly dengue virus coming from mosquito across the Southeast Asia.
Photo courtesy: 24 Oras/GMA news
This year the Department of Health declares the national dengue epidemic, as it recorded 86% increase from 222,849 cases in January 1 to November 30, 2018 to 414,532 cases in 2019. Death tolls also rose from 1,122 in 2018 to 1,546 in 2019.
Now the good news is, after over seven years of study and research, Filipino scientists have been able to formulate the first ever anti-dengue drug in the world.
"It's not a vaccine, it's not a herbal supplement. It is a drug that has an activity against the virus," Dr. Rita Grace Alvero said in a Friday report by Ivan Mayrina on 24 Oras.
"So parang sinasabi natin na pag ininom ito ng pasyente, gagaling 'yung kanyang signs and symptoms. So i-cure niya talaga yung dengue," she added.
According to the report, the drug is made from tree herbs that locally grow in the country.
In the first phase of testing, they were able to prove that the drug was safe and there were no seen side effects. However, it will undergo more tests for the next six months to determine its effectiveness.
"We have completed the pre-clinical testing. We have completed the safety analysis in animals. We are now in the human testing. We have just concluded the Phase 1 clinical trial. [Based on] our findings, there was no dose-limiting toxicity,” Alvero said as quoted in the businessmirror news.
"We will probably start Phase 2 and Phase 3 by the first quarter of next year. We will end by the third quarter. [Then] we will apply for marketing authorization. Hopefully by the end of 2020 the anti-dengue drug may be out [in the market],” Alvero said. She clarified that it will not be a herbal supplement. “It is a drug. That means it has a scientific basis to back up the efficacy of the anti-dengue drug," she added.
The research is part of the Tuklas Lunas program of the Department of Science and Technology which aims to create new drugs for diseases.
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