A tin of covilyce herbal medicine.
Dr Alice Veronica Lamwaka, the lead researcher and innovator of Covilyce-1, a poly-herbal concoction developed for treating COVID-19 says the support drug also boosts sex drive in humans.
Covilyce-1 was developed by scientists led by Dr Lamwaka at Gulu University’s faculty of Biotechnology and Pharmaceutical Studies (PharmBiotec). The herbal remedy was initially developed to treat other respiratory illnesses but the scientists announced publicly last year that it can cure COVID-19 symptoms.
But Dr Lamwaka says many people who used the herbal drug reported an enhancement in their libido. She says the increased libido was reported in both males and females who used the herbal remedy.
Dr Lamwaka says that whereas it wasn’t in their scientific research plans, the revelation has sent scientists at the University guessing on whether to include the discovery as a side effect or a benefit of the drug for its users. She was making the presentation to a team of experts from the World Health Organization Africa Regional Office.
Dr Lamwaka also believes that the drug improves women’s fertility citing that a section of women who used the drug reportedly conceived after a very long period of not being able to conceive. She however says that the claims now require further scientific studies through clinical trials to clearly prove the potential of the herbal concoction.
Last year, President Yoweri Museveni authorized the Health Ministry to release 3.7 billion Shillings to aid further research and clinical trial of Covilyce-1, after meeting Dr Lamwaka and a team of University officials over the invention of the drug.
But Dr Lamwaka says no money has been released to the University, which has affected progress in their research, yet a committee instituted by the Ministry of Science, Technology, and Innovation earlier noted that they lack sufficient pre-clinical study reports on Covilyce-1 to enable the medicine to be cleared for a clinical trial.
Dr Moses Ocan, lecturer of Pharmacology at Makerere University and a member of the COVID-19 Natural Therapeutics Clinical Trial School (CONAT) says they are yet to interface with Dr Lamwaka on her product. Dr Ocan says the committee members will have to get sufficient pre-clinical study reports on Dr Lamwaka’s herbal remedy before she can be cleared and funded to conduct the clinical trial.
At least three innovators have so far been cleared to conduct clinical trials on their herbal products after defending their products with sufficient pre-clinical reports. Among the products cleared for clinical trials is the country’s covid-19 vaccine, UBV-01N developed by local scientists.
WHO officials who held discussions with scientists from Gulu University recently lauded their innovation and pledged to offer technical support to improve the development of African traditional medicine.
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