Over P1.5 billion have been invested by the government in search of new pharmaceuticals.
Spent over seven years since 2012, it went to funding research in traditional medicine, cutting-edge technologies, laboratories, equipment and infrastructure in academic, industry and private research centers.
The budget came from the Department of Science and Technology’s Philippine Council for Health Research and Development’s (PCHRD).
The agency’s Tuklas Lunas program looks at plants and other natural diversity using local expertise to respond to the growing health needs of Filipinos, according to Science Secretary Fortunato Dela Pena.
The priorities are the top causes of sickness and death such as cardiovascular diseases, cancers and diabetes mellitus as well as communicable diseases such as tuberculosis and drug-resistant infections.
Research funded involves the development of standardized herbal drugs and the discovery of new drugs from local sources.
The plants and organisms under research must already have confirmed signs of being active against specific diseases and ailments, are safe and non-toxic and are ready for pre-clinical studies before they are tested on humans.
The research also involves the development and validation of standard processes and protocols for various stages of drug development.
The Tuklas Lunas program has research partnerships with 16 state universities, seven private schools and five private companies.
Since July 2014, the UP Marine Science Institute has isolated and characterized active peptides and produced chemically synthesized peptides with anti-cancer and anti-inflammatory properties.
UP Manila, UP Diliman, Pharmalutics Corp. , Herbanext Laboratories and Pascual Lab are all working on the development of 28 standardized dosage forms with anti-inflammatory, anti-diabetic, anti-gout and anti-hypertensive properties.
The aim is to develop standardized and stable dosage forms of selected plant extracts for preclinical and clinical development that will meet all the regulatory requirements of the Department of Health’s Food and Drug Administration.
“The plants formulations that passed the pre-formulation, formulation and standardizations studies have been recently presented to the industry to get their interest and commitment on possible co-development or co-funding of the products for pre-clinical and clinical studies for early licensing,” Dela Pena said.
Private money is needed as pharmaceutical development is a long and cost process.
Looking forward, Dela Pena said promising pharmaceuticals are pursued until possible technology transfer and commercialization. All of the DOST-funded projects will use validated protocols so their research outputs can be fed into the downstream drug discovery pipeline.
“Rooted in mysticism, folklore and rural alchemy, new pharmaceuticals are now at the edge of the mass market,” he said, adding that after years of investment, research-based, potentially anti-inflammatory, diabetes, gout and anti-hypertensive pharmaceuticals are in the horizon. “From biodiversity, we have world-class pharmaceuticals.”
