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 honour 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
Ampicilin, Chloroquine, Piperazine and Sulphadimidin, 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.
Source:Vanguard
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