From University Lab to life-saving breakthrough: Two PNG Chemists risk everything to develop cancer & diabetes wound cure

Monday, 18 August 2025, 4:12 pm

Chemists Velina Markson (left) and Sharon Namiai (Image: supplied)

What began as a final-year chemistry project at UPNG has become Papua New Guinea's most promising medical breakthrough.

Velina Markson and Sharon Namiai, the founders behind Peri Oil, have sacrificed careers, finances and personal stability to develop a treatment that heals cancerous and diabetic wounds in just 3-7 days. Filling a Critical Research Gap.

While global research focuses overwhelmingly on internal treatments, Diacan Medical Services is pioneering what others have overlooked: effective topical solutions for external wounds.

"Almost all medical research targets clinical, internal use. We're filling the vital gap in topical applications for the painful, visible wounds that devastate quality of life." Markson explains.

The Peri Oil created by the two young chemists (Image: Supplied)

The young chemists turned-entrepreneurs left secure jobs in 2025 to focus full-time on their natural wound treatment after witnessing its remarkable results on chronic ulcers that resisted conventional medicine. Their formula, derived from PNG's medicinal plants, has already helped numerous patients including Weslie Mangip of New Ireland Province who reported complete healing of previously untreatable wounds.

"Every day we meet people in unbearable pain. When we saw Peri Oil working in just days where other treatments failed, we knew we had to pursue this - no matter the cost."

Before and after treatment of patients using the oil (Image: Supplied)

That cost has been steep. The team has exhausted personal savings pursuing medical validation and now urgently needs support for final testing and approvals. Without funding, this PNG-developed solution may never reach the thousands suffering from chronic wounds across the nation.

"We didn't choose this path because it was easy. We chose it because in our chemistry labs and hospitals, we saw too many people losing hope. Peri Oil can change that." Namiai said.

The founders are calling for partners who believe in their mission to help bridge the funding gap and bring this treatment to those in need.