The Philippines will produce its own Ivermectin capsule, the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) said Sunday, Oct. 17.
DOST Undersecretary for Research and Development (R&D) Rowena Cristina Guevara said the University of the Philippines (UP) Manila College of Pharmacy will formulate the country’s own dose of the anti-parasitic drug.
“The Ivermectin capsule will be formulated and compounded by the UP Manila College of Pharmacy for the project,” she told the Manila Bulletin in a Viber message on Sunday.
With this, there is no need for the country to purchase the regular formula, she explained.
“Nadesisyunan ng team, yung Ivermectin capsule ay sa UP Manila College of Pharmacy na gagawin. Hindi na kami bibili ng regular na formula kasi gusto namin may sarili kaming dosage. (The team has decided that the Ivermectin capsule will be formulated at the UP Manila College of Pharmacy. We will not buy the regular formula because we have our own dosage),” the DOST official said in an interview over DZBB on Sunday.
She explained that protocol revisions delayed the start of the country’s clinical trials seeking to assess the efficacy, safety, and effect on viral clearance of Ivermectin in asymptomatic and mild coronavirus disease (COVID-19) patients confined in isolation facilities.
“Yung project team nag-undergo ng protocol revisions kasi part kami ng international clinical trial, dun sa Ivermectin consortia led by University of Liverpool England. Mayroon silang mga changes na ginawa so kailangan i-approve yan sa FDA (The project team has undergone protocol revisions because we are part of an international clinical trial, the Ivermectin consortia led by the University of Liverpool England. They made some changes so it has to be approved by the FDA),” Guevara said.
READ MORE: https://mb.com.ph/2021/06/25/ph-now-part-of-intl-ivermectin-clinical-trials-consortium/
The global consortium is spearheaded by Dr. Andrew Hill of the Department of Pharmacology and Therapeutics, University of Liverpool in the United Kingdom. It is conducting an analysis of all the randomized Ivermectin clinical trials around the world.
For the Ivermectin clinical trials, Guevara said they are targeting 1,464 study participants.
“Yung clinical trial management system na-establish (has been established) with the UP Diliman College of Engineering,” she said.
She said the study sites in the National Capital Region (NCR) include the Ateneo Quarantine Facility, La Salle Quarantine Facility, University of the Philippines Diliman (UPD) and Makati Science High School Quarantine Facility.
The DOST official said the project team, led by Dr. Aileen Wang will recruit participants from Region 2 (Cagayan Valley) and Region 11 (Davao).
“Ang target namin ay patient recruitment within October tapos preliminary result by end of December (Our target for patient recruitment is within October, then the preliminary result is expected to be released by end of December),” she said.
The Philippine government has allocated P22 million for the conduct of the Ivermectin clinical trials.