State House refutes clearing Covidex

State House has dismissed information circulating on social media that President Museveni has cleared the developer of Covidex to start mass production of the medicine which is being marketed as “Covid cure.”

The information circulating on social media reads: “Prof [Patrick] Ogwang, [the developer of Covidex], has been given maximum protection by HE [President Museveni] and allowed to produce Covidex in large quantities. He is now guarded by Special Forces Command (SFC).” 

Many people in Kampala and Mbarara have also said Covidex is still being sold in markets at around Shs33,000 per 20mls bottle. 
Ms Linda Nabusayi, the Senior Press Secretary to the President, yesterday said Mr Museveni met Prof Patrick Ogwang to discuss Covidex but added that the head of State had not given a green light to its production.

“I can confirm that the President has been talking to various scientists, including Prof Ogwang, about developing a Covid cure. This process is still ongoing. HE, however, has not cleared any drugs for production,” she said.

Ms Nabusayi referred this newspaper to the new Minister for Science, Technology and Innovation, Dr Monica Musenero, for details. But the minister said she was in burial and couldn’t comment.

When our reporter reached out to  National Drug Authority, the drug regulator, Dr David Nahamya, the secretary to the authority, said he was in a board meeting and he would call back. He did not respond again by press time.

On June 14, NDA directed the developer of Covidex to stop production and sales because the medicine had not been approved. It is still unclear why the sale and alleged production of the medicine is still ongoing. 

Prof Ogwang couldn’t be reached for a comment by press time as his known phone number was not available.
However, in response to the NDA, the developer said he was going to wait until clinical trial for the medicine is done.

“I write to inform the public that Covidex, a formula developed by me has undergone only laboratory tests by me and my team of scientists at Mbarara University of Science and Tecnology (MUST) for active compounds and safety in laboratory animals,” the letter reads.

“Only a few people have used it so far to relieve their symptoms of Covid-19. This, therefore, needs more proof that it works against Covid-19. Clinical trials that prove a medicine is effective [against a disease] has not yet been done due to funding limitations but the President talked to me and [has] given me all the support,” he added.

An earlier write up reportedly authored by Prof Ogwang indicated that the medicine was developed from locally available plants from South Western Uganda.  

The plant known as African Satinwood has medicinal components known as berberine and isoquinoline, according to the write-up.