ISLAMABAD: The health authorities on Monday announced the completion of a successful clinical trial of Chinese traditional herbal medicine for treating Covid-19.

The Chinese medicine, Jinhua Qinggan Granules (JHQG), manufactured by Juxiechang (Beijing) Pharmaceutical Co Ltd, is already being used in treatment of Covid-19 patients in China.

“Since it was tried on patients with different variants of Covid-19, we expect it to be effective on Omicron as on other variants,” Professor Iqbal Chaudhry, director of the International Centre for Chemical and Biological Science where trials were conducted, told reporters.

The trials were conducted on 300 patients who were treated at home, and would work on mild to moderate Covid-19 cases, Dr Raza Shah, principal investigator in the trials, told reporters, adding that the efficacy rate was around 82.67pc.

The trials were approved by the Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan.