First herbal medicine for COVID-19 licensed for circulation in Vietnam

After only three days of using Sunkovir, 100% of patients showed a sharp decrease in symptoms and level of severity, according to a report presented at a healthcare workshop held in Ho Chi Minh City on April 25.   

Dr. Truong Thi Ngoc Lan, deputy head of the HCM City Traditional Medicine Institute, a representative of the research group, said none of a total of 1,115 COVID-19 patients involved in the study saw an increase in level of severity after taking in the medicine.

In addition, the drug also helped rapidly reduce the severity of symptoms of the disease such as cough, shortness of breath, loss of smell and taste, nasal congestion, muscle aches, sore throat, headache, chest pain, sneezing, hoarseness, sweating, and drowsiness from day 3 onwards.

According to Dr. Lan, Sunkovir is indicated for use in cases of diseases caused by respiratory viruses, such as influenza and mild COVID-19 at the onset stage to quickly reduce the symptoms of the disease. It is safe for patients, children from 3 years old, on reproduction and genetics.

The success of SunKovir is the result of close collaboration among doctors and pharmacists from different academies, universities and institutes nationwide. This has affirmed the role and values of Vietnamese traditional remedies in the prevention and treatment of emerging epidemics in the country, said Dr. Huynh Nguyen Loc, head of the HCM City Traditional Medicine Institute.

Sunkovir has been officially accepted by the National Ethics Committee in Vietnam as a safe and effective product after eight clinical trials and preclinical trials taken place between January 2021 and December 2022 as well as six internal studies at Sao Thai Duong JSC.

The research has been approved for publication on the science publications Pubmed and Phytotherapy Research of the network Scopus of Wiley (February 2023).