Unilorin professor discovers anti-cancer, anti-TB drugs, seeks commercialisation

Prof. Joshua Obaleye of the Department of Chemistry, University of Ilorin, says his team has discovered anti-malaria, anti-cancer and anti-tuberculosis drugs that can be mass-produced to save lives.

Obaleye told newsmen in Ilorin that the team which he heads had tested numerous world-class metal compounds from his laboratory for the treatment of various diseases.

According to him, studies show that when a metal is attached with a pharmaceutical, it increases the efficacy of the drug.

The  don, who is also the President, America Chemical Society, Nigeria Chapter, and Chairman, Nigeria Chemical Society, Kwara State Chapter, said that he lacked funding to commercialise the drugs.

According to the professor, he has also produced anti-inflammatory drugs and vitamins.

“We need to commercialise all these drugs and invite the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control and other regulatory bodies to come over to examine what we have produced to confirm if what we say we have is what we have.

“When they investigate us and find out what we say is authentic, maybe they will be happy to help us.

“We have produced metal anti-tuberculosis, metal anti-malaria, metal antibiotics  and many more. We have produced a lot of them in this lab,” Obaleye said.

“Most of these drugs we have produced in our lab have other applications; even structural studies of them is enough. We can even use them as raw materials for other drugs,” he added.

Obaleye  called for effective collaboration among researchers in the same discipline as well as interdisciplinary collaboration in order to come out with world-class discoveries.

He said that collaboration had given him great opportunities to come up with groundbreaking researches.

“We are making a lot of achievements, we have many collaborators from India, we have collaborators in Malaysia, Japan and so many other countries.

“We work with people we know are experts in those areas; if you don’t collaborate, you just be a local champion without any progress,” he said.

He called for government funding  to facilitate  commercialisation of the drugs.

-NAN