With COVID-19 still affecting most part of the world, any good news in sight about its prevention is something that everyone is looking for.
The popular traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) Lianhua
Qingwen capsule is officially launched in the Philippine market through the
efforts of Yiling Pharmaceutical and its exclusive Philippine distributor,
Philippine Archipelago International Trading Corporation. Making it the first
TCM to be registered as a traditionally used herbal product in the Philippines.
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the
landmark registration of Lianhua Qingwen capsule in early August. The drug is widely
used in China as part of its standard coronavirus treatments.
During the product launch, Olivia Limpe-Aw, the President
of Philippine Archipelago International Trading Corporation stated that “The
COVID-19 Pandemic has brought to the fore the importance and significance of
TCM and the significant role of Lianhua Qingwen in particular in the
prevention, treatment and control of this global epidemic.”
Lianhua Qingwen Capsule has been part of China’s standard
therapy for mild and moderate coronavirus patients. It’s listed as a
recommended medicine in the Diagnosis and Treatment Scheme of Novel Coronavirus
Pneumonia (Versions #4-#8), issued officially by Chinese authorities.
The results of a prospective, randomized, controlled, and
multi-center clinical study on treating COVID-19 with Lianhua Qingwen Capsules,
which Chinese Academicians Zhong Nanshan, Li Lanjuan, and Zhang Boli and other
experts worked on together with over 20 hospitals, were published in
Phytomedicine, the journal with a high impact factor in the field of
international herbal medicine. It’s found in the study in terms of clinical use
that Lianhua Qingwen proved to be both safe and effective in treating COVID-19
in conjunction with conventional therapy as it could significantly relieve
clinical symptoms of COVID-19 such as fever, debilitation, and cough, greatly
improve pulmonary lesions, shorten the duration of symptoms, and increase the
clinical recovery rate.
“It is
our sincere hope that Lianhua Qingwen’s entrance into the Philippine market
will contribute to the fight against the spread of COVID-19 in this country,” Yunling
Zhang, VP of the drug’s manufacturer, Yiling Pharmaceutical, said during the
launch. “It helped millions of patients during the coronavirus outbreak in both
China and other countries.”
As of now, Lianhua Qingwen Capsule has been approved in nearly
20 countries and regions including Canada, Brazil, Romania and Thailand. In
Kuwait, the medicine has been for the first time granted permission in
countries other than China to treat symptoms caused by mild and moderate cases
of COVID-19.
According to local TCM expert, Dr. Philip Niño Tan-Gatue,
COVID-19 is new but the principles for treating it are not. Chinese medicine
focuses, not just on the causes of the disease, but also the clinical or
presentation of a disease at a particular point in time. COVID-19 is looked at
the same way as SARS, or any other rapidly transmissible infectious disease. So
long as a particular clinical pattern is recognized, then a formula used
thousands of years ago can be used for modern diseases, albeit with
modifications.
In the Philippines, however, despite its safety, Lianhua
Qingwen Capsule is a prescription Rx drug requiring a prescription from a
doctor holding a PDEA S2 license. Once obtained, prescription-holding consumers
may purchase leading drug stores at a suggested retail price of P288.00/box (24
capsules/box). It is currently available in Southstar Drug and Mercury Drug and soon in Watsons stores.
