Snake venom medicine
Areej Al-Masadi said in statements to “Sky News Arabia” that the drug is a protein derived from the venom of a snake found in Tunisia and can be used to treat certain diseases of blurred vision and retinal damage suffered by people. patients with diabetes and the elderly and eye diseases accompanied by the chaotic formation of blood vessels.
The researcher confirmed that the invented drug will allow the treatment of different types of eye diseases associated with the chaotic formation of blood vessels and can also be used to treat cancerous tumors after carrying out more specialized tests in this field.
Al-Masadi explained that she “tested the new invention on animals at the preclinical stage, and it was found to be very effective after the research team discovered that the protein developed from snake venom can be used alone or as part of a dual treatment”. with existing drugs, but 30% of patients do not respond to them, according to studies, and that the patent has been accepted in Japan and America because the current drug is experiencing great resistance in patients that the new drug can terminate .
And the researcher says her preclinical-stage experiments have proven that sharing the new antidote with existing treatments on the pharmaceutical market leads to very positive results and greater treatment feasibility, noting that eye diseases due to vascular disorders are were spreading in Tunisia among different age groups due to diabetes, which It is widespread in the country with indicators that exceed the world average.
On the way to commercialization
Al-Masadi developed his invention in the laboratories of the Institut Pasteur in partnership with the Institut des Sciences de France, then an international company took over the acquisition of the patent for this invention for further development and clinical trials, at provided that ownership of the drug remains within the 40 percent limit.
Al-Masadi explained that the medicine, for which she obtained a patent, is extracted from the venom of a type of snake considered part of the Tunisian biological heritage, since it only lives in Tunisia and in a Mediterranean environment, and after testing on animals inside the laboratory, it has proven its effectiveness, especially since these animals do not develop eye diseases. Concerned with the treatment automatically, but the same human diseases were tested on them, then the invention was tested in a stage scientifically called pre-clinical trials before moving on to clinical trials which will take place in cooperation with a French company of drug development on a chemical compound that has the same components as the snake venom molecules from which his experiments were launched and it will take The two-year limit, because what is related to human health requires a lot of precision and of experiments.
years of research
Al-Masadi, 46, said her work on snake venom began as part of a research team at the Institut Pasteur since 2001, and she devotes all her time to laboratory research after obtained a doctorate in veterinary medicine from Tunisia, then she specialized in pharmacology and pursued in-depth studies in experimental sciences of medicine in French universities.
She pointed out that the Institut Pasteur in Tunisia is known for its state-of-the-art laboratory specializing in toxicology, which brings important applied experiences and precise knowledge on the uses of snake venom, its types, and its mechanisms of action to the cell level. mainly extracted from the venom of a Brazilian snake.
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