A Chinese medicine developed in Taiwan could be approved for use alongside Western medicine to treat COVID-19 patients in Taiwan as early as this week, a senior Ministry of Health and Welfare official said.
The medicine, called NRICM 101, was developed last year by the ministry’s National Research Institute of Chinese Medicine and a team of clinical practitioners using a mixture of 10 traditional ingredients.
Since then, the Tri-Service General Hospital, Chang Gung Memorial Hospital and several other medical institutions have used the formula as part of a combined therapy for some COVID-19 patients, with largely positive results, the ministry said.
National Union of Chinese Medical Doctors’ Association secretary-general Ko Fu-yang (柯富揚) on Tuesday said that the formula consists of concentrated amounts of 10 Chinese medicine ingredients that are already approved for use in Taiwan.
To date, eight local drugmakers have received permission to manufacture the medicine for export, Ko said, adding that it has been selling well as a dietary supplement in Europe and the US, although it has not been approved for medicinal use in either.
Of those companies, two have also applied for permission to sell it as a medicine in Taiwan, he said.
Ko said that, according to sources at the companies, Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung (陳時中) approved emergency use authorization of the medicine one to two months ago, but has yet to grant the domestic drug permit that is needed for it to go on sale.
The ministry on Monday decided that under the emergency use authorization, any company that has received permission to export NRICM 101 could also apply to sell it domestically, Ko said.
Vice Minister of Health and Welfare Shih Chung-liang (石崇良) said the two companies that applied to sell NRICM 101 as a medicine could also be granted special permission to sell it under the Pharmaceutical Affairs Act (藥事法), possibly as early as this week.
Despite the medicine’s pending approval, Ko said that people should not flock to their local Chinese medicine clinics to ask for it, but should instead follow government guidelines if they are experiencing possible COVID-19 symptoms.
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