Royal Virgin (Crinum latifolium L.) has become a Vietnamese valuable medicinal plant which is concerned and used by many people and achieves certain effectiveness. However, patients still worry that which products are reliable with reasonable price and so on.

Pharmacist – Dr. Nguyen Thi Ngoc Tram, Director of Thien Duoc Co., Ltd. said, “During the past 20 years, I and my Vietnamese and foreign colleagues have studied Crinum latifolium L. Until 2005, Crila capsule manufactured from bioactive alkaloids extracted from Crinum latifolium L. leaves, inhibiting the growth of tumor cells was allowed for nationwide circulation by the Drug Administration – the Ministry of Health under registration number V1167-H12-10 (based on the assessment of the Council of Science and Technology, the Ministry of Health on the therapeutic effect of Crila capsule for patients with benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) at 89.18 % and of  uterine fibroids at 79.5 %).

Since Crila’s introduction until now, it has been believed to have high treatment efficacy with hardly side effects and built public trust. Therefore, some establishments manufactured supplements for the prevention of tumor disease, but consumers and patients mistake supplements for medicine so they buy supplements for treatment. The result is not as good as they desired when the disease could not be cured. Not knowing which products are therapeutic medicines because there are a lot of products labeled “Crinum latifolium L.” makes patients feel confused. Among them, Vu Viet Dien (his telephone number is 04.38528047) has written to the Ministry of Health to ask which product from Crinum latifolium L. is recognized to be reliable and effective. To meet patients’ requirement, on July 20, 2009, Mr. Truong Quoc Cuong - Director of the Drug Administration said, “On the market, there are two products approved by the Ministry of Health to be therapeutic medicines manufactured from Crinum latifolium L. including:

1. Crila capsule is produced from alkaloids extracted from Crinum latifolium L. leaves by the National phytopharma joint stock company under registration number VNB-3391-05. On April 28, 2009, the Drug Administration allowed Thien Duoc Co., Ltd to produce Crila capsule with registration number V1167-H12-10 with indications for treatment of BPH and uterine fibroids.

2. Tadimax product (ingredients: Crinum latifolium L. leaves, Rhizoma Anemarrhenae, Cortex Phellodendri, Leonurus japonicus, Semen Persicae, Alisma plantago-aquatica, Radix Paeonice Rubra, and Cortex cinnamomi) under registration number: VD-7858-09 of Danapha Pharmaceutical JSC and indications for treatment of BPH.
 
The Ministry of Health evaluated the value of Crila capsule and had official dispatch No. 3425/BYT-QLD on June 1, 2009 sent to the Ministry of Science & Technology suggesting putting Crila on the list of National medicine which are invested to research, develop and produce in a large scale so that there are enough medicine to serve public health in Vietnam and foreign countries.

Reported by DONG HUONG