A long-discarded drug that may give the much-desired miracle cure for millions of people suffering from the fatal Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS) virus worldwide will soon be tested in the country.
Dr. Eric Tayag, chief of the Department of Health's Infectious Disease Cluster, said the clinical trial for "A-viral" will start soon after the "safety experiment" on the drug is completed.
Tayag said the drug, which has undergone reformulation, is now being tested by government medical experts for safety among healthy subjects as a prerequisite for the six-month clinical trial.
"The search for a miracle cure is a race against time, so the clinical trial for A-viral will start as soon as safety of the medicine has been proven," Tayag said.
Tayag earlier had reported that the DOH had recruited 50 patients who would undergo the clinical trial.
A-viral, also known by its genetic name Oxyphenylbutazone, is an anti-rheumatic drug and pain killer which has long been pulled out from the market due to its side-effects.
But Tayag said a study conducted in West Africa three years ago showed that A-viral was "beneficial for patients with HIV infection whose CD4 count or level of immune cells increased after taking the medication."
However, Tayag said the first clinical trial on A-viral failed to show its benefits in reducing the viral load of HIV patients, mainly because there was no technology available then that would determine this.
In order for a medicine to be declared an anti-AIDS drug, Tayag said it should be proven first that the virus in the patient's body decreases to an undetectable level after taking the drug.
According to Tayag, the study done in West Africa showed the potential of A-viral as an anti-AIDS cure, but there was yet no conclusive finding because the mechanism on how it worked in destroying the AIDS-causing virus was not determined.
The San Lazaro Hospital, in coordination with a Norwegian pharmaceutical company, will conduct the clinical trial on A-viral.
Tayag admitted that A-viral was initially introduced as a pain reliever but was pulled out of the market following complaints of considerable side-effects like body pain and slight abnormality in blood count.
But Tayag said the first study showed that, if taken in different dosages, the drug will have no side-effects.