Misitura Arowona, a PhD student
in the Department of Chemistry, University of Ilorin (Unilorin), has developed
a drug that promises to be potent in the treatment of tuberculosis (TB), an
infectious disease that usually attacks the lungs.
The new drug, which was announced
in the university’s Monday bulletin, is a “metal attached” medication which has
improved the efficiency of the anti-TB drugs compared to normal drugs that are
consumed globally.
According to the bulletin,
Arowana is currently undergoing a sandwich fellowship at the Maharaja Sayajirao
University’s (MSU) Faculty of Science in Vadodara, India, in connection with
his development.
The breakthrough comes as India
has channeled much effort, in recent years, into the creation of medications
that curb the dangerous disease. The south Asian country also launched a
clinical trial for two newly developed vaccines in mid-July.
According to Rajendrasinh Jadeja,
a professor of Chemistry at Sayajirao University, “the Nigerian scholar used
metals like ion, cobalt, copper, and zinc to prepare the metallodrugs.”
“The drugs, which have been
developed, include ciprofloxacin HCl, ofloxacin, pyrazinamide and moxifloxacin
HCl. Presently, there is no metal-based anti-TB drug available in the market,”
the bulletin read.
“The country is ranked seventh
among the 30 high TB burden countries and second in Africa and the problem of
TB in Nigeria has been made worse by the issues of drug-resistant TB and the
HIV/AIDS.”
It is estimated that about 407,
000 people in Nigeria have TB annually while India has recorded the highest
number of cases in the world with 2.9 million new ones reported every year.
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