Medicinal herbal drugs are becoming an important component of the Primary Health Care Program of the country due to the present economic difficulties.  While the use of drugs and other chemical agents for therapeutic purpose had been proven to be convenient, effective, and safe, these are becoming too costly, which a greater number of Filipinos could hardly afford.  Furthermore, the drug industry is highly dependent on raw materials coming from other countries.  It remains as an importing and compounding-packaging industry.

            Drug substances are rarely administered in their natural state but as part of a formulation combined with one or more non-medicinal agents, which serve varied and specialized functions.  Pharmaceutical aids, adjuncts, excipients, or adjuvants are selectively used to produce various types of preparation differing in physical and pharmaceutical characteristics and in final form.  Referred to as “dosage forms,” these products provide the manufacturing pharmacist with the stimulating challenges and ambience of formulation.

            The dosage form is particularly important in herbal medicine to secure year round availability of medication from seasonally harvested plant materials; ensure proper identification of plants used; and preclude the problem of locality unavailability.

    Objectives                                                                                                                                      

General Objective:

·         To prepare and formulate pharmaceutical dosage forms from medicinal plant materials and their placebos and establish their quality control specifications, as well as their stability

Specific Objectives:

·         to prepare dosage forms from plant materials

·         to carry out the necessary quality control tests on the raw materials and on both intermediate and finished  

                  products

·         to conduct the necessary quality control tests of the above mentioned products from the raw material to the

                  finish product needed in the preparation of the monographs

·         to continue stability studies on Ampalaya tablets, Yerba buena tablets, and Tsaang gubat tablets

·         to conduct preformulation studies on the new priority plant materials

·         to design and prepare placebo formulations to be used in the clinical testing of the pharmaceutical dosage

                  forms

·         to assist the other projects of NIRPROMP by rendering services relevant to the objectives of the program

·         to assist/supervise undergraduate and graduate Pharmacy students in the accomplishment of research

                  activities requiring the use of the project’s facilities/equipment.

    PROJECT TITLE                                                                                                                               

Dosage Forms from Philippine Medicinal Plants

    IMPLEMENTING and FUNDING AGENCY                                                                                           

            Philippine Institute of Traditional and Alternative Health Care

    COOPERATING AGENCY                                                                                                                   

            Department of Industrial Pharmacy

            College of Pharmacy

            University of the Philippines Manila

     Researchers