As INEC’s chairman, Professor Maurice Iwu was loathed by most especially; as they saw in him, a more than willing tool in the hands of the ruling PDP to subvert the will of the people but fast forward post INEC, the erudite and acclaimed pharmacologist and tropical medicine expert, is breaking new grounds in the field of scientific research.
The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Nigeria’s equivalent of NAFDAC, has announced another breakthrough in the treatment of HIV/AIDS with the discovery of an oral botanical drug, Crofelemer. The new drug which owes its success to a pioneering research carried out in the United States by a team of scientists including Nigeria’s Maurice Iwu, is the second botanical, and first orally administered drug to be approved by FDA since 2006.
The first botanical drug to be approved in the United States was a topical green tea extract, Veregen, in 2006. Both botanical drugs which meet all US pharmaceutical requirements can be dispensed only by prescription.
However, “Crofelemer is the first drug to be approved in the United States to treat HIV -associated diarrhea. It is derived from the latex of the South American sangre de drago tree (dragon’s blood, Croton lechleri). A red, blood-resembling latex leaks from the tree when its bark is cut, and it is this substance that contains the novel polymolecular structure crofelemer, originally developed and standardized by Shaman Pharmaceuticals. Fulyzag is the second botanical drug approved by the agency. The drug’s approval marks an important event in the decades-long history of crofelemer.’’
The latest “Healthnews,” in a report entitled, “Nigeria’s Maurice Iwu, others record breakthrough in HIV/AIDS treatment: Amazon tree-derived medicine cleared for usage in HIV patients with diarrhea,’’ it stated, “On New Year’s Eve of 2012, the US Food and Drug Administration announced its approval of crofelemer, marking the second time a botanical, and the first time an orally administered botanical, has received drug approval from the Administration. The first botanical drug to be approved in the United States was a topical green tea extract, Veregen in 2006. Both botanical drugs meet all US pharmaceutical requirements and can be dispensed only by prescription.
“The latest breakthrough owes its success to a pioneering research carried out in the United States by a team of scientists which included Nigeria’s Professor Maurice Iwu, an acclaimed pharmacologist and tropical medicine expert.”
