The University of Abuja is to conduct extensive researches aimed at facilitating improvement in the production of drugs for the treatment of sickle cell disease (SCD) and hypertension.
Vice Chancellor of the University, Professor Michael Adikwu who disclosed this at the weekend in Abuja, stated that the University 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 GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), London meant for further research into the efficacy of the three existing drugs for the management of hypertension.
Professor Adikwu said 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 expected to focus research on three combinations of medications namely: Amlodipine-Lisinopril, Lisinopril-Thiazide and Amlodipine- Thiazide for the treatment of hypertension cases.
Leader of the GlaxoSmithKline 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.
