Following the failure of the Nano Silver experimental drugs to
scale through screening by the National Health Research Ethics Committee, the
federal government has now commenced pre-clinical studies on claims of other
drugs. Co-chairman of the Treatment Research Group Committee on Ebola Virus
Disease (EVD), Prof. Karniyus Gamaniel, told THISDAY that the new trials and studies
would bridge the gap caused by the decision to jettison the Nano Silver drug,
which is available on the internet and was classified as a pesticide by the US
Food and Drug Administration and the World Health Organisation (WHO). The
research group committee was setup by the Minister of Health, Prof. Onyebuchi
Chukwu two weeks ago in response to the Ebola outbreak in Nigeria. The
committee made of top-notch professionals and scientists in the health sector
was mandated to conduct research on drugs for the virus. Speaking on the way
forward, Gamaniel said: We are actually working hard to bridge the gap.
Gamaniel, who is also the Director General of the National Institute of
Pharmaceutical Research and Development (NIPRD), informed THISDAY that the
committee had commenced the examination of pre-clinical studies on some low
hanging drugs, explaining that these are trial drugs that could be ready for
use by humans. Doing the pre-clinical studies will enable the administration of
the drugs on humans, as part of treatment for Ebola virus.
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