DOST secretary checks on Herbanext projects in Bago
Department of Science and Technology Secretary Fortunato de la Peña visited the Herbanext Laboratories in Bago City, Negros Occidental Wednesday to check on ongoing research projects.
Multi-awarded agri-entrepreneur and Herbanext president Philip Cruz told the Negros NOW Daily Thursday that de la Peña is very supportive of science and technology innovations, especially of small and medium enterprises, that is why he would like to know the developments before he steps down as DOST secretary.
Cruz, a 2005 TOYM (The Outstanding Young Men of the Philippines) awardee, said there are six ongoing DOST research projects at Herbanext Lab, all related to herbal medicine development.
These include the manufacturing of tawa-tawa for clinical study on dengue, manufacturing of serpentina for clinical study on COVID-19, and several anti-diabetes, anti-inflammatory, and anticancer herbal medicines.
“The secretary has never visited our place since we joined the DOST-PCHRD (Philippine Council for Health Research and Development) Tuklas Lunas Drug Discovery and Health Products Program in 2013. We are truly honored by his visit,” Cruz said.
He said the last six years have been the most productive years of Herbanext in its R&D (research and development) efforts to bring safer and more effective herbal products to the market. “Thanks to the commitment of the Secretary and his team in encouraging and supporting innovation in MSMEs,” he added.
Founded in 2001 as a small agricultural enterprise focused on the cultivation and processing of the medicinal mushroom Ganoderma lucidum, Herbanext underwent major transformation in 2006, expanding to other medicinal plants and tapping into the country’s vast botanical diversity.
With assistance from the DOST, the company modernized its manufacturing plant in 2011 and put up the country’s first purpose-built extraction and spray-drying facility. “This state-of-the-art and GMP (Good Manufacturing Practices) accredited facility is now paving the way to an industry shift from the traditional use of powdered herbs to the use of more potent herbal extracts.”
It also received P11.7-million in interest-free loan from the DOST, under its Business Innovation through S&T (BIST) for Industry Program, one of the four subcomponent programs of the DOST-Science for Change Program (S4CP).
Herbanext is the first ever private sector recipient of the BIST, Cruz said.
The company was awarded the DOST-S4CP Cradle Trophy for making a standardized and safe tawa-tawa and filling in the final gaps for a clinically-proven nutraceutical product, during the DOST-S4CP Summit for the Visayas Cluster, on the theme “Science for Change is Science for the People”, in Bacolod City early this month./CGC
