NTV’s Rita Kanya on Monday had a wide-ranging interview with Patrick Ogwang, the developer of Covidex. He dives into the development process and future of the drug that is now being used to manage coronavirus.

What is the science behind Covidex and what particular symptoms does it cure regarding coronavirus?
The science is complex. I don’t want people to get lost. But in developing medicines, there are different ways you can develop medicines. I will share two ways with which I am familiar.

One is what we call reverse ecology. This means you are beginning from the known, unknown to known. We normally use this if we are developing herbal medicines, where you know that these plants are used traditionally in communities to treat diseases. You first look at how the community uses it, then you come to the lab, test it and go back to the people with an improved version of it.

The second way is the one that is used to develop pharmaceuticals or chemically-based drugs. Under this, you go to the lab and get a target. An enzyme or some receptor in some part of the organs and look for chemicals that have structures that can fit in that enzyme or receptors. They begin testing from the laboratory and they come to the people.
So Covidex is the one that began from community use to a lab and back to the people. That is why to some degree, we could have some level of confidence that we may get what we want to see.

What plants did you use in developing Covidex?
Covidex has three plants, two of which are widely used in Uganda for measles, other viral infections, bacteria, and other diseases. So knowing that traditionally they are used for measles, a viral disease, and corona is also a viral disease, we could have a good case of what we may get out of the work.

Scientifically, there are compounds in those plants. There are many but we reveal berberine, which is scientifically proven that in the lab, it kills the virus and stops it from multiplying. Not just any virus, but coronavirus that causes Covid-19.There is evidence, not by me, but by other scientists also that the compound stops multiplying.

Apart from that, the second plant, I have evidence. I did the experiment myself and established that it helps the cells open up. Our body is made of cells. Any cell, once you apply a medicine to it, they open and absorb it. They have like windows or doors where water goes in and comes out, sodium goes in and comes out of those pours. So the compound needs to open up and that drug can enter and do its work.

So what are the names of these plants?
They are mentioned in the product.
One of them is Zanthoxylum Chalybeum of gilletti, the other one is warburgia Ugandensis, and the third is lemon grass.

Does the population know about these plants?
All the plants we have in that product are used as foods or beverages. We drink lemon grass in our tea, fresh leaves of warbugia are eaten as food in some communities while Zanthoxylum is used for brushing our teeth.  In Teso [Sub-region], we use it to brush our teeth so that they don’t rot, and in Masai, they add it in the milk of their children to become bitter and make them gain appetite.

You mention one plant that opens up the cells and the second one that kills the virus. But what about the lemon grass? How does it help in relieving one of the symptoms?
One of the plants has a compound that kills the virus, there is evidence to that.

Then, the other thing that the plants do is also deal with the cough. When patients who are coughing frequently take it, the cough is quickly suppressed.  That is very important because when you are coughing frequently, you cannot breathe in enough air. When you can’t, you are going to have reactions. We call it reactive oxygen disease formation. Your body starts to produce oxygen radicals that damage your body or cells, so dealing with cough is important.

The plant also deals with flu-like symptoms. One of the plants deals with fevers. It quickly suppresses fever, so if you are taking it, you may not need Panadol or Ibuprofen because it handles you effectively.
The plant also deals with what we call cytokine storms. We now know that when the immune system overreacts, it produces certain cytokines that actually damage the body more, so one of them is proven to reduce the effect of cytokines in damaging the body. The other one acts as the preservative and natural aroma, so the medicine is purely natural because all the plants are from Uganda.

National Drug Authority (NDA) approved Covidex to be used as a supplement viral infection treatment. But since the medicine came from people to the lab to people, NDA also says for you to have it approved as a cure for Covid-19, it has to undergo clinical trials. How far with those now? 

As I said before in other communications, to do a clinical trial, you need like Shs2 billion. We have sold Covidex but up to now, we have not yet even made half a billion. Clinical trials are very expensive because they involve highly trained professionals. You need to have medical doctors or physicians, pharmacists, nurses, counsellors, and biostatisticians. It is a big team.
Secondly, you have to compensate patients. Pay them transport, allowances and in the hospital, you have to buy them food, maintain them, plus other forms of treatment that they may need, so it is not something cheap.

Right now, we have finished developing the clinical trial protocol because we might develop the protocol that develops scientifically, then it is approved for ethical conduct of the study.
You have to prove that you are not going to harm people, that you are going to benefit the people in your study. So we are in the process of having it approved. We submitted it so we hope that by next week, we shall have the approval.

Once we get the approval, we shall hope for funding. The good thing is that the government has promised to fund it. They have assured me that they are going to look for money and support.
That will help us know beyond doubt that this Covidex works or not. The kind of what we know now is from users, they have used it and they have seen benefits, but the only good proof is when you have controls.

So in clinical trials, you have a control group that does not take the medicine and the group that does. You compare the two and see if those who are taking medicine are doing better than those who are not. So we hope that within three or six months, the results will be released because it will give it a strong boost if it is positive. That means we can be proud as a country that yes, you have a treatment for this disease or a cure for it.

As we wait for that, many people are using this as the supplementary treatment of Covid-19. What may arise is how many businesses might decide to use this as an opportunity to make fake products and how are you prepared to deal with this?
Some Ugandans love money. They say that “love for money is the root of evils”.

We need money, but we should not love it.  You can kill a person because of loving money. So because of that, some people now want to do fake ones, and that is dangerous because I might come and buy something that looks like Covidex, I take it and I do not recover. I die and you have killed me. But as a company,  Jena Herbals Limited, we are putting in measures.
We are working with National Drug Authority to do surveillance in the markets. We have caught some people who were trying to forge it, so this is helping me a lot. When they see some variation on the logo and the tin, they call me.

Secondly, we are putting features in the label that you can scan using your phone. When you put it there, it will read genuine or fake.
We are also looking forward to producing the bottle that has the logo of Jena. When you see the logo there, you know this is genuine.
Apart from working with NDA, we are also accrediting pharmacies that distribute it. So if you get it from the pharmacy, especially the one we accredited, you know they are genuine.

Right now, we have three pharmacies in Kampala, Rock Health, Springs Pharmacy and Eco Pham. These pharmacies are also giving it to others to sell.
I recommend you don’t get it from hawkers because you cannot trace where they came from or are going.
But if you buy from the pharmacies and you find the taste is different, you can easily trace that pharmacy.

People are citing some legal issues between Mbarara University of Science and Technology and you on who owns the drug. What is the current status?
It is good to have those legal issues because I know one day, the truth will come out. The truth might take time, but it will come. There is a saying that sometimes lies run faster than truth but the truth always comes out. So I want to leave it to that time. There is the truth somewhere and people know it. I know it and even the university knows it.

But what is critical for me now is the benefit that our country will get. Let’s not look so much into who owns it and who does not own it. But we should look at how we, as a country, harness this change God has given us to gain as a country. Even people who will run the clinical trial can also claim that they own it. Even those who will make a label will claim ownership, people will always make claims but the truth will come out.

Should we focus on the drug for now? Yes. Let us focus on helping Uganda by producing enough for Ugandans to benefit and do clinical trials.

Should people only use Covidex when they are sick? For now, we know that when somebody has a disease and takes it, they improve. We do not have a lot of evidence that it stops you from getting the disease. That is why we are emphasising let it be for those who have the diseases.
But we are also not producing enough for those with the disease, that is why we are saying do not keep it in your pocket or your bedroom, let’s get it when we need it.

editorial@ug.nationmedia.com