The Vice
Chancellor [VC], Michael Okpara University of Agriculture, Umudike, Abia State,
has confirmed the discovery of a new drug for the treatment and cure of
HIV/AIDS. The Vice Chancellor 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.
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Michael Okpara University Gate |
He commended Ezeibe for the breakthrough, saying: “He has brought honors to the University and we are proud of him.” The VC, 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. He said:
“If commercialized, the Medicinal Synthetic Aluminum-Magnesium Silicate would
become an alternative for petroleum to the Nigerian economy”.
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