Indonesian researchers nearly finished with clinical trials for COVID-19 herbal medicines

An Indonesian research team is conducting clinical trials for two herbal medicines intended to help boost people’s immune systems. INQUIRER.net STOCK PHOTO

JAKARTA — A research team at a temporary COVID-19 hospital at Wisma Atlet Kemayoran in Central Jakarta has reportedly managed to recruit its 90th and final subject for its clinical trials of new herbal medicines for COVID-19 patients. Seventy-two of them have completed the trials so far.

The team, comprising representatives from the Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI) and the Association of Indonesian Doctors for the Development of Traditional and Herbal Medicine (PDPOTJI), among others, is currently developing two herbal medicines intended to boost the immune systems of COVID-19 patients.

Both medicines are said to be “immunomodulator drugs” that stimulate or suppress components of the immune system, including both innate and adaptive immune responses. The medicines are not vaccines, nor are they a replacement for adhering to proper COVID-19 health protocol.

“The research team is collecting data that will be handed down to the Food and Drug Monitoring Agency [BPOM] as the regulator,” LIPI said in a statement on Monday.

“We ask for support from the public so that we can make a significant contribution to the COVID-19 response in Indonesia.”

The two medicines being tested are Cordyceps militaris and another product that is made of ginger, gripeweed, green chiretta and Ngai camphor.

Cordyceps militaris is a fungus commonly found in the Himalayas and Tibet, but it has been successfully cultivated and produced in Indonesia. The fungus is widely used in herbal medicines in China, South Korea and Tibet.