Taipei, March 12 (CNA) The emergency use authorization (EUA) for a traditional herbal formula developed in Taiwan to treat COVID-19, known as Taiwan Chingguan Yihau (NRICM101), will be extended to June 2024, Health Minister Hsueh Jui-yuan (薛瑞元) said Sunday.
The EUA extension is aimed at buying more time for the availability of NRICM101 before it can obtain formal drug certification, Hsueh said.
An expert group will be formed in the near future to complete the drug certification process for NRICM101 before the EUA is terminated, he added.
The existence of the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC), set up in early 2020 to handle Taiwan's COVID-19 response, has provided the legal basis for the granting of EUAs for medical supplies such as vaccines, medicines, and rapid tests.
But the CECC could be disbanded by the end in June, at which time the medical supplies it approved can no longer be used and have to be destroyed, according to the CECC.
Hsueh made the remarks after President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) and Vice President Lai Ching-te (賴清德) lauded Taiwan's success in the development of the herbal formula against COVID-19.
Lai, who contracted COVID-19 and used NRICM101 to treat the disease, praised the herbal formula's effectiveness during an international forum on traditional Chinese medicine in Taipei Sunday, saying he personally experienced its protective effect on the respiratory system.
In addition to COVID-19, NRICM101 is effective against other emerging viruses, Lai said, and he advocated that Taiwan strengthen the development of traditional Chinese medicine.
Addressing the same forum via a pre-recorded video, Tsai said NRICM101 had made a great contribution to epidemic prevention.
She said she hoped that through the development of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), the training of Chinese medicine practitioners will be strengthened so that Taiwan's TCM system will be more competitive internationally.
