Trials of four traditional coronavirus drugs developed by the AYUSH Ministry and the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) will begin within a week.
Union Minister Shripad Y Naik on Thursday tweeted that the AYUSH Ministry and CSIR are working together on validating four Ayush formulations against Covid-19. He said trials will start within one week.
“The @moayush & the @CSIR_IND are working together on validating four Ayush formulations against #COVID19Pandemic and the trials will start within one week. These formulations will be tried as an add-on therapy and standard care for COVID-19 patients. I am sure and quite hopeful that, our traditional medicinal system will show the way to overcome this pandemic,” Naik tweeted.
The Ministry’s announcement came two days after Prime Minister Narendra Modi urged the people of India to be “vocal for local”, implying more support for India’s indigenous businesses.
CSIR Director-General Shekhar Mande and Ayurveda and AYUSH secretary Vaidya Rajesh Kotecha had said on Wednesday that the result will come within three months.
Earlier it was reported that the interdisciplinary Ayush R&D Task Force has formulated and designed clinical research protocols for prophylactic studies and add-on interventions in Covid-19 positive cases thorough review and consultative process of experts of high repute from different organisations across the country for studying four different interventions viz. Ashwagandha, Yashtimadhu (Mulethi), Guduchi +Pippali (Giloy) and a poly herbal formulation.
While the CSIR is one of the world’s largest publicly funded scientific and industrial research organisations, the Ministry of AYUSH stands for ayurveda, yoga, unani, siddha and homeopathy, India’s traditional forms of medicine.
Meanwhile, the US Food and Drug Administration has given its nod to Gilead’s antiviral drug remdesivir in May for emergency use on COVID-19 patients.