Amidst rapidly surging Covid-19 cases, a study conducted by Indian scientists from ayurveda stream have said that AYUSH 64, a poly herbal formulation has been found to be useful in the treatment of asymptomatic, mild and moderate Covid-19 infection as an adjunct to standard care.
Developed by the Central Council for Research in Ayurvedic Sciences (CCRAS), Union Ministry of Ayush, initially the drug was developed for Malaria in the year 1980 and now is repurposed for Covid-19.
The robust multi-centre clinical trial to evaluate the safety and efficacy of AYUSH 64 in the management of mild to moderate COVID-19 patients was recently completed by the Ministry of Ayush-Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) collaboration.
AYUSH 64 comprises of Alstonia scholaris (aqueous bark extract), Picrorhiza kurroa (aqueous rhizome extract), Swertia chirata (aqueous extract of whole plant) and Caesalpinia crista (fine-powdered seed pulp).
“It is extensively studied, scientifically developed, safe and effective Ayurveda formulation. This medicine is also recommended in National Clinical Management Protocol based on Ayurveda and Yoga which is vetted by National Task Force on COVID-19 Management of ICMR,” said officials from the Ministry at a press conference here.
Dr Arvind Chopra, Director, Centre for Rheumatic Diseases, Pune and chief clinical coordinator of the Ministry of Ayush - CSIR collaboration said that the trial was conducted at three centres.
KGMU, Lucknow; DMIMS, Wardha and BMC COVID Centre, Mumbai involving 70 participants in each arm. Dr Chopra stated that AYUSH 64 as an adjunct to standard of care (SoC) showed significant improvement and thus lesser period of hospitalization as compared to SoC alone.
He also shared that several significant beneficial effects of AYUSH 64 on general health, fatigue, anxiety, stress, appetite, general happiness and sleep were also observed.
“This controlled drug trial study has provided substantial evidence that AYUSH 64 can be effectively and safely used to treat mild to moderate cases of COVID-19 as adjuvant to SoC.
