Herbanext Laboratories and The Medical City ink deal to conduct collaborative research on tawa-tawa extracts against dengue virus
November 26, 2024
BAGO CITY, PHILIPPINES
Members of The Medical City’s Clinical and Translational Research Institute (TMC-CTRI) and Herbanext Laboratories, Inc. (HLI) came together on Tuesday to seal an agreement for the joint conduct of translational research on the effects of tawa-tawa extracts against the dengue virus.
A powerful partnership
This unique collaboration came into fruition after initial exchanges between research investigators Dr. Roland Remenyi (TMC-CTRI) and Mr. Aidan C. Cruz (HLI) in early 2021.
“I was pleasantly surprised to receive a sudden inquiry from Dr. Roland back in 2021. You could see his genuine curiosity and interest to apply his lab’s technology to answer one of our biggest questions” Mr. Cruz, the R&D Manager of HLI said in an interview.
Dr. Remenyi, the principal investigator of the Biomedical Research Unit (BRU Lab) of TMC-CTRI cited that their unique position as a cutting-edge health research institution complemented well with HLI’s commitment to the development of high-quality scienced-based herbal medicine.
The joint project, titled “VIPER: anti-viral potential of Euphorbia hirta”, seeks to apply the BRU Lab’s novel dengue infection models to understand the possible mechanisms of action by which tawa-tawa (Euphorbia hirta) extracts can act on the virus.
A novel and much needed approach
Tawa-tawa has existed for over 45 years in our traditional medicine system as a folkloric treatment for dengue. Despite this, there exists only a handful of research studies on its possible mechanisms of action.
“We have several hypotheses on how tawa-tawa might work, but we lack the evidence from scientific studies to validate these guesses” Cruz said.
This partnership comes at an opportune time when HLI must deepen its understanding on the bioactivity of tawa-tawa before moving forward to engage in higher-level mechanism-based clinical trials.
“Roland’s group provides us a unique and novel approach that is a first of its kind for research on tawa-tawa” Cruz added. “It was a much needed push for us to move forward to making higher quality extracts of tawa-tawa”
At the end of the event, Dr. Remenyi, now the Project Leader, also emphasized how the results of this research engagement are merely the beginning of the science needed to correlate laboratory-based results with its actual clinical effects in the patient setting—an area known as “translational research”.
Support for Filipino science
This engagement would not have been possible without the funding support of the Department of Science and Technology through it’s Collaborative Research and Development to Leverage Philippine Economy (CRADLE) Program. This program provides research institutions with funding support to conduct projects meant to address challenges faced by the industry.
To learn more about the CRADLE Program, visit the DOST S4CP website at https://s4cp.dost.gov.ph/programs/cradle/