MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Health (DOH) on Sunday said a case buildup was going on against those behind the “Fabunan antiviral injection (FAI),” a purported vaccine for the new coronavirus disease (COVID-19) being peddled on Facebook.
Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire, in a Viber message to reporters, said the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) had yet to receive any application for product registration from the makers of the antiviral injection.
“They still have not applied for CPR (Certificate of Product Registration). They were already issued a cease and desist order by the FDA. [So a] case buildup is being done already,” she said.
Testimonials of alleged COVID-19 patients who swore to the drug’s effectiveness can be found on the “Fabunan antiviral injection” Facebook page.
More recently, social media posts also claimed that communities in Zambales have already been given Fabunan shots versus COVID-19.
Vergeire said the DOH was studying Fabunan’s case already.
“FDA has jurisdiction when it comes to the unregistered drug/vaccine, and Professional Regulation Commission for the practice of medicine,” she said.
“We warned them and those who will try out a new drug that this should first be registered with FDA. They cannot administer this to the public without studies showing its safety,” Vergeire said.
Vergeire stressed that the DOH was open to endorse treatments that have gone through rigorous studies.
“We encourage local scientists who may have developed [treatments] to apply with the FDA,” she said.
“We do this for the protection of the public as many unregistered products have proliferated globally which might hurt people and even cause death,” she added.
Vergeire said that to date, there had not been any record of the FAI applying with the FDA.