The Chinese Embassy in the Philippines on Wednesday welcomed the approval of the popular traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) Lianhua Qingwen, a treatment for the novel coronavirus disease, marking an important progress in the entry of TCM products into the Philippine market.

"The Embassy is glad to learn that the Philippines' Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved Chinese drug Lian Hua Qing Wen, making the drug formally registered as TCM in the Philippines," the Embassy said in a statement.

According to the Embassy, the Lianhua Qingwen capsule is an approved COVID-19 treatment for mild and moderate patients in China, as well as in China's Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR) and China's Macao SAR, Brazil, Indonesia, Canada, Mozambique, Romania, Thailand, Ecuador, Singapore and Laos.

"It is our sincere hope that its entrance into the Philippine market will contribute to the fight against the spread of COVID-19 in this country and help the patients with mild and moderate symptoms recover," the Embassy statement read.

The Embassy also advised the consumers to purchase and consume authentic TCM produced by qualified pharmaceutical manufacturers.

Moreover, the Embassy voiced hope that TCM "would play a bigger role to support the efforts of the Philippine government and its people to fight against COVID-19 until the final victory."

Lianhua Qingwen capsules or granules were used in 284 patients with mild and moderate COVID-19 symptoms at 23 hospitals across nine provinces in China. The results show that treatment using the drug for 14 days leads to a higher rate of recovery for mild and moderate cases, in that it helps reduce the proportion of mild cases developing into severe cases and shorten the duration in which patients go from testing positive to testing negative.

So far, Lianhua Qingwen has made inroads into eight countries and two regions under different categories, including Chinese medicine, Chinese patent drug, botanical drug products, dietary supplement, and food additive, among others.

The Philippines has 143,749 confirmed COVID-19 cases, including 68,997 recoveries and 2,404 deaths. 

(With input from Xinhua)

(Cover photo via CFP)