: Media Releases :

PHANG: Malaysia could be the first in the world to find a cure for Hepatitis B

THE Malays call it pokok Dukung Anak. They believe drinking the juice of the plant (including its roots) can cure, among others, yellow fever, anaemia, asthma, dysentery and to a certain extent, diabetes.

While its effectiveness in curing these ailments has yet to ho proven, one thing for sure is that the plant, which goes by the scientific name of phyllanthus niruri, can indeed cure Hepatitis-B.

Herbal pharmaceutical company Nova Laboratories Sdn Bhd (NovaLab) has invested more than RM3 million for a seven-year research on the plant, It recently received approval from the Health Ministry to undertake clinical trials on its product called Hepar-P pills.

And it is going to translate into big business for NovaLab. It expects the Hepatitis-B medical pills to generate RM80 million sales by the end of 2006.

“Based on the potential Hepatitis-B carrier population in the, world, we estimate that 2 per cent of the carriers will buy our Hepar-P pills in those two years. That’s about RM50 million in domestic sales and RM30 million for exports,” he said.

Established 15 years ago, NovaLab’s focus lies in researching the medicinal value of indigenous herbs.

It undertook research on time phyllanthus niruri for seven years and found that it contains anti Hepatitis B properties.

“It is considered a liver protective agent. The phyllanthus herb is also believed to be effective against toxicity caused by alcohol and drugs.”

The 49-year-old medicine man said he began research on the herb in 1997, two years after his brother-in-law, who was diagnosed with Hepatitis-B, was cured after taking the phyllanthus-based extract.

“At that time, not many have heard of the benefits of phyllanyhus niruri. When I watched my brother-in-law becoming seriously ill, I decided to seek the advice of.a doctor friend. He recommended a phyllanthus-based extract which he has brought in from India.

“We were worried of the effects of the experimental medicine but my brother-in-law took it. Within a month, his blood was tested negative of the hepatitis virus. The doctors and nurses at the hospital were baffled,” Phang said.

NovaLab plants its own pokok Dukung Anak on a 6ha site located just a 30-minute ride away from its office at Sg Pelek in Sepang.

The phyllanthus herb grows best on peat soil and takes 2½ months to grow up to 2ft.

The company’s modest double-storey building is surrounded by oil palm trees. An adjoining two-storey wooden building houses more than 1,000 white mice, rats and rabbits, which are bred for testing purposes.

NovaLab conducts its own clinical trials on these test animals on a variety of medicine.

By end-2005, Phang said the clinical trials will be conducted on monkeys. “They are the closest biological link to humans.”

“Nobody likes to use animals for experimental purposes but we have to do it because of the requirements imposed by the health authorities,” he said.

He said his biggest challenge was to seek financing for research on the medicine. Finally, he was able to get help from his friends at Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) in Penang to fund the experiments on the pokok Dukung Anak.

“For the herbal biotech industry to flourish, the Government must ensure that the local huniversities are in tune with the ‘seed to pill’ concept. That way, researchers are driven to commercialise their work for the consumers’ benefit,” Phang said.

Six months ago, NovaLab applied for a RM4 million grant from the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation to undertake the clinical trials of its Hepar-P pills, which is estimated to run for a few years.