In October 2010, the famous American TV channel - Healing Quest arrived at Vietnam to make a television program about Pharmacist - Dr. Nguyen Thi Ngoc Tram and her research work on “Royal Virgin” plant (Crinum latifolium L.). Healing Quest TV channel specializes in health broadcasting in 145 countries around the world. On November 8 2010, a documentary program about Dr. Tram first aired on PBS across the U.S., UK, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa attracted the attention of the scientific community and audiences all over the world. It was the first time a medicine derived from Vietnamese medicinal herb was accepted and appraised highly by the U.S. It was truly a memorable event for Vietnamese medicine industry. On this occasion, we had a conversation with Pharmacist –Dr. Nguyen Thi Ngoc Tram – the inventor of Crila capsule from Crinum latifolium L. to learn more about this memorable event.
Reporter: Having associated with Crinum latifolium L. since the 1990s, perhaps you are the one who have spent the longest time to pursue the research on this medicinal plant; however, at the early time, were there some scientists who still did not fully believe Crinum latifolium L. to have capability of treating uterine fibroid and BPH?.
Dr. Tram: Vietnamese citizens have used Crinum latifolium L. for a long time to treat tumors, including BPH, uterine fibroids, breast tumor, etc. However, they relied only on traditional experience, decocting Crinum latifolium L. leaves to drink. Drink 3 leaves a day for 7 days, then take 7 days off. A treatment course lasts 21 days. After that, you can continue to take other courses if the disease does not ease up. From traditional experience, my colleagues at home and abroad and I have focused on studying “Royal Virgin” (whose scientific name is Crinum latifolium L.) in the hope of formulating a medicine treating BPH and uterine fibroids with high treatment efficiency and reasonable price to serve community health. From that thought, my co-workers and I were determined to overcome many difficulties to formulate Crila - the first medicine from Vietnamese herb that can treat uterine fibroids and BPH. At the beginning, the research was conducted in the Bulgarian Academy of Science and the Innsbruck University, Austria. However, some scientists in the Council of Science still suspected Crila’s efficacy on treating uterine fibroids and a scientist once said, “If this medicine could cure uterine fibroids, it would be an elixir”
Nearly 20 years of research, despite facing many heaped up difficulties, but my toughest obstacle was the skepticism of the medical circles. However, it is the motivation that I and my colleagues in Vietnam and foreign countries have determined to prove that Crila’s efficacy has authentic scientific basis. Besides, the result of clinical trials under the regulation 371 of the Ministry of Health through three stages has proven treatment efficacy for uterine fibroids to be at 79.5% and BPH at 89.18%. Crila’s treatment efficacy through clinical research in some hospitals including Vietnam National Institute of Gerontology, National Hospital of Traditional Medicine, National Maternity Hospital, Tu Du Hospital, etc. gradually faded out the skepticism of some scientists about Crila’s treatment efficacy.
Reporter: To approach patients, CRILA surely has gone through many rigorous tests, hasn’t it?
Dr. Tram: Crila was born thanks to a long process from scientific research works at home and abroad, pilot production projects at ministerial and national level, and major contributions of scientists in medical branch and very experienced doctors such as Prof. Tran Duc Tho, Prof. Dao Van Phan, Assoc. Prof. Vuong Tien Hoa, Prof. Nguyen Duc Vy, Prof. Tran Quan Anh, etc. to the allowance of the Ministry of Health for CRILA’s nationwide circulation in 2005 with indication - treatment of BPH and in 2007 with indication - treatment of uterine fibroids. Crila capsule has experienced 16 times to get research works on botany, chemistry, extraction, formulation, pharmacological toxicity studies, clinical studies, etc before the Council of Science.
Reporter: For a long time, specific medicine for tumors have been mostly imported with so high price that not all patients can afford, can CRILA – a domestic medicine – meet the needs of patients?
Dr. Tram: Currently, all my research results have been transferred to Thien Duoc Company Ltd. for mass production on a large scale to meet the needs of many patients. The factory of Thien Duoc Company, Ltd. is located at No F3, N5 Street, Nam Tan Uyen Industrial Zone, Tan Uyen Town, Binh Duong province, in an area of 1ha. The Drug Administration – the Ministry of Health has certified the company under the criteria GMP -WHO (Good Manufacturing Practices). Crila has not only high treatment efficacy but also reasonable price. The total cost of a treatment course is only one fifth compared with imported medicine. Crila capsule is one of three national medicines that are invested for research and development, serving the community health and export by the Ministry of Health.
Reporter: It is uneasy to introduce a product from Vietnamese medicinal herb to the U.S market. Is this the first time a Vietnamese product sold in the U.S has actuated Healing Quest to come to Vietnam and do a reportage about CRILA – Crinum latifolium L.?
For any products, to be accepted by U.S. market, they must meet strict standards from materials (inputs), production process (environment, equipment) to finished product (safety and effectiveness). Right from the stage of building material areas, we have defined the most important factor was that Crinum latifolium L. leaves ensure bioactive substances for tumor treatment. Our company has researched on planting and caring Crinum latifolium L. under GAP-WHO standard (Good Agriculture Practices) with stable biological activity. Currently, we have three Crinum latifolium L. plantations in Binh Duong, Dong Nai and Phu Yen with the total area of 27 ha. The conditions of soil, water source, climate, etc. of these plantations have been examined. The plantation is reserved for organic farming; absolutely no pesticides or chemical fertilizers accepted. The factory of Thien Duoc Company Ltd. is certified GMP (Good Manufacturing Practices), GLP (Good Laboratory Practices), and GSP (Good Storage Practices) by the Drug Administration – the Ministry of Health. Crila capsule is produced from clean material sources of Crinum latifolium L. with high content of bioactive substances; therefore, it has high treatment efficiency without any side effects valued by the U.S. market and other markets throughout the world.
Reporter: It is known that the research subject supporting cancer treatment from alkaloid and flavonoid fractions extracted from Crinum latifolium L. directed by you has achieved very positive results, can you tell us more specifically about this”.
Dr. Tram: I directed the project “Research of stimulation of the immune system against cancer of alkaloid and flavonoid fractions from Vietnamese Crinum latifolium L. used as raw materials to produce Vietnamese medicines supporting cancer treatment” which is one of 46 international cooperation missions in science and technology under the protocol between Vietnamese and Bulgarian government beginning in 2007. After two years, we have finished and accomplished well the mission. Compared with the proposal approved by the Ministry of Science and Technology, we have completed two objectives: Extracting alkaloid and flavonoid fractions from Crinum latifolium L. leaves and evaluating the ability to stimulate the immune system against cancer of alkaloid fractions (C1, C2, C3) and flavonoid fraction (H1)
Research results have demonstrated alkaloid and flavonoid fractions extracted from Vietnamese Crinum latifolium L. leaves can be used as raw materials to produce medicine supporting treatment for lung cancer, liver cancer, and other cancer diseases. To have a new capsule from Vietnamese valuable medicinal herb – Crinum latifolium L. supporting cancer treatment, we have to get the drug undergone clinical trials on patients under regulations of the Ministry of Health.
Reported by Tran Thang