Department of Science and Technology Secretary Fortunato dela Peña
(TOTO LOZANO / Presidential Photo / MANILA BULLETIN FILE PHOTO)
DOST Secretary Fortunato T. de la Peña said both parties made such commitment during the first Philippines-France Joint Committee Meeting held on Feb. 5.
“The meeting discussed updates on existing initiatives and identified priorities and specifics for future collaborations, guided by the signed Program of Cooperation,” he said in his weekly report.
He noted that DOST Undersecretary Rowena Cristina L. Guevara and her co-Chair, MESRI Dr. Denis Despréaux, “led the Committee to agree on the way forward” for the continued implementation of the Hubert Curien Partnership-Science for the People Researchers Mobility Program and the DOST-PhilFrance Scholarship Program.
Over 500 patients have benefited from the new “Axis Knee System” developed by the Department of Science and Technology (DOST)- Philippine Council for Health Research and Development (PCHRD), and Filipino-owned company Orthopedic International Inc. (OII)
DOST Secretary Fortunato T. dela Peña repo
Last week, the Philippines’ coronavirus scoreboard hit the half-million mark. Based on the latest tally from the Department of Health (DOH), the number of confirmed cases has reached 500,577 with more than 24,000 still active, almost 466,000 recoveries, and nearly 10,000 deaths.
The DOH and the Philippine Genome Center also confirmed that the United Kingdom (UK) variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus that causes COVID-19 is now in the country after samples from a Filipino who arrived from Dubai two weeks ago yielded positive genome sequencing results. This UK variant is reportedly even more infectious than the original virus and is different from the mutation detected in South Africa.
Potential dengue medicine set for phase 2 clinical trials
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Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, January 16) – A potential cure for dengue is about to undergo phase 2 clinical trials this year, Philippine Council for Health Research and Development Executive Director Jaime Montoya said on Friday.
Montoya said around 600 volunteers will take part in the trials in Cavite that will last for about 10 months.
He said the anti-dengue drug is made of three endemic herbal plants from local company Pharmalytics Corporation. The research is also funded by the Department of Science and Technology.
“We will investigate this drug by lowering the viral load, reducing viral leakage, and improvement of platelet formation,” said Montoya in the virtual DOST report.