The former INEC Chairman who is the CEO of Bioresources Institute of Nigeria (BION), made the disclosure during a meeting between his researchers and the Ministers of Science and Technology and Health in Abuja.

He disclosed that the institute identified and patented the possible COVID 19 treatment far back in 2015 at the University of Nigeria Nsukka, where he was a professor of Pharmacognosy and continued in America when he was visiting scholar at the Division of experimental Therapeutics of Walter Reed Army Institute of Research, Washington DC, USA, between 1994 and 2003. Iwu said the research was reactivated during the Ebola epidemic.

He said “I am here to formally brief you about our drug discovery project, which has led to the identification of a potential treatment agent for coronavirus infections. You will recall that on July 23, 2018, you presented to scientists of the Bioresources Institute of Nigeria (BION) patent certificates granted by the Trade mark, Patent and Design Registry facilitated by the National Office for Technology Acquisition and Promotion, NOTAP.  The three patents granted to us NG/p?2015.84; NG/P/2015/85 and NG/P/2015/97 were based on discoveries from the natural products drugs screening programme at Bioresources Institute of Nigeria, BION, focused in Neglected Tropical Diseases, emergent Infections and Orphan diseases. Our approach is the use of a network of eminent scientists and leading laboratories to target particular diseases, especially fever virus, Chikungunya, Coronarus and Tacaribe virus; and chronic metabolic diseases such as diabetes, obesity and cardiovascular diseases.”