Prof. Francis Otunta, the Vice Chancellor (VC), Michael Okpara
University of Agriculture, Umudike, in Abia, has confirmed the discovery of a
new drug for the treatment and cure of HIV/AIDS.
Otunta told newsmen at the university
campus on Wednesday that the finding followed years of scientific research by
the institution.
He said that the breakthrough was made
by Prof. Maduike Ezeibe, a researcher in the university.
According to him, Ezeibe had presented
the drug to the University management, Senate, and Council, where he explained
the processes he went through to arrive at his finding.
The VC also said that Ezeibe had
equally presented the drug to his colleagues in the medical field and nobody
had contradicted his finding.
“Prof. Ezeibe is a researcher in
Veterinary Medicine and one may wonder how he discovered a drug to cure a human
ailment,” he said.
He commended Ezeibe for the
breakthrough, saying: “He has brought honor to the University and we are proud
of him.”
Otunta said that the university was in
the process of mass producing the drug for further clinical trials on persons
living with HIV/AIDS in the country.
Ezeibe, who is a professor of
Veterinary Medicine and Clinical Virology, said that the drug was produced with
Aluminum Silicate and Magnesium Silicate (Synthetic Aluminum-Magnesium
Silicate).
He said that the two minerals “are
already in use as medicines for the treatment of various animal and human
diseases”.
He said that 10 persons living with the
disease, “who volunteered’’, were made to apply through their doctor to the VC.
“They were treated daily with the
Medicinal Synthetic Aluminum-Magnesium Silicate (50 mg/kg),” he said.
Ezeibe said that the volunteers were
subjected to monthly tests for viral loads and CD4-lymphocyte counts.
“With the antiviral effects of the
medicine, its ability to reach all cells (as nanoparticles) and the
lymphocytes, there is no more hiding place (sanctuary) for HIV,” he said.
He said that the medicine had been used
to potentiate Ampicillin, Chloroquine, Piperazine and Sulphadimidine, among
others, and could be a major foreign exchange earner for Nigeria if approved by
relevant authorities.
According to him, “local and
international pharmaceutical companies would find the product as a veritable
raw material”.
Ezeibe said that he presented the
research findings to the World Virology Conference in Atlanta in 2015, and
Antonio (Texas) in 2016.
Besides, he said that the results of
the laboratory tests had been published in many international scientific
journals, including the British Journal of Medicine and Medical Research, among
several others.
He said that he was also about to sign
a memorandum of understanding with a U.S.-based Scientific Research Publishing,
publishers of World Journal of AIDS, for the publication of his book “How I
came about the cure for HIV/AIDS”.
Ezeibe, who said that the medicine was
patented in August 2014 in Nigeria, called on the Federal Government to help
him to secure international patency for the drug.
He said: “If commercialized, the
Medicinal Synthetic Aluminum-Magnesium Silicate would become an alternative for
petroleum to the Nigerian economy.”
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