The University of Abuja is conducting research towards improving the production of drugs for sickle cell and hypertension, Leadership reports.
A statement signed by the Deputy Registrar, Information and Publications, University of Abuja, Waziri Garba made this known recently.
According
to the statement, Vice Chancellor of the university, Professor Michael U. Adikwu
has confirmed that the institution has already set up a centre of
excellence for sickle cell disease research and control and that it
would also benefit from a 25 million pounds grant to Africa by Glaxo
Smith Kline, (GSK) London meant for further research on the efficacy of
the three existing drugs for the management of hypertension.
Adikwu
stated this when he received a team from GSK which was on the main
campus and the University of Abuja Teaching Hospital to inspect
facilities for a trial pharmaceutical laboratory which is expected to
focus research on three combinations of medications namely:
Amlodipine-Lisnopril, Lisnopril-Thiazide and Amlodipine- Thiazide for
the treatment of hypertension cases.
Leader of the Glaxo Smith Kline
team who is also the Global Health Projects Director of the firm, Mrs.
Ann Duffon, and the principal investigator, Dr. Ojji Dike, of the
Department of Internal Medicine of the University of Abuja, said that
the research on the combination drugs was to test for their efficacy and
for those with less side effect in order to establish the best
anti-hypertensive drugs for Africa.
The visit to
the university, according to the duo, followed the success of an
application for grant to GSK for research into the non-communicable
disease stressing that the pharmaceutical firm would be actively
involved in the project and would ensure skills transfer and exchange of
knowledge on the studies with a view to expand the scope of the
research and collaboration with the local academia.
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