KAMPALA – The government has provided Gulu University a sum of Shs3.7 billion to test Covylice-1, another herbal drug that reportedly heals Covid-19 within 72 hours.
Covilyce-1 was created by scientists at Gulu University Faculty of Biotechnology and Pharmaceutical Studies (Pharm-Biotech) led by Dr Alice Lamwaka.
This was after the innovators being stopped from trading the drug by the National Drug Authority – NDA on grounds that it was still under research and development.
It is said that NDA asked the drug developers to disclose the plants they used to make the medicine, and the formulation process as one of the requirements for approval.
However, the University rejected NDA’s demand.
The scientist say their medicine has so far “cured” 100 people before clinical trials.
According to the sources, NDA wants the university to declare the contents of the drug by naming the details of each plant, as well as declare how they formulate it so that they are sure of the product being made.
According to Daily Monitor, Dr Lamwaka confirmed that NDA has set for them those conditions.
“But we told the team we cannot name the plants because Covilyce-1 is still a lab-based product, which is not officially in the market,” Dr Lamwaka said.
“We withheld the botanical names of plants used in formulating Covilyce-1 but we accepted to only name the active ingredients and what parts of the plants have been used to develop Covilyce-1,” Dr Lamwaka added.
However, Mr James Onono, the university spokesperson, who also attended the meeting, said they agreed to submit the application to NDA for Covylice-1 approval but that they will not reveal names of the plants.
NDA said the university has confirmed to them that the product was still under lab research and tests, and that “before we notify a product, it shouldn’t be used as we can’t guarantee its safety.”
