First Ever Vigilance Program for Indian Herbal Medicine Companies

Change is everywhere. On one hand, we can see innovations in the field of science and technology; while on the other hand we observe a return to the ancient tradition. People all over the world are waking up to the need for Ayurvedic medicines and the stressing the importance of herbal medicines in curing or managing certain serious ailments. And India is the last country to realize the potential of this phenomenon, although it is here that the medicine was born.

 

However, better late than never, they say! And purists are now considering the importance of universal recognition for international promotion of herbal medicines. In a recent incident, almost 200 samples of herbal medicines bought from the Internet were tested by researchers of an American University and found to contain rich deposits of minerals and metals. This has come as a punch in the face of the herbal medicine market in India. For the first time, the Government is launching a quality checking program, a vigilance program unparalleled in the history of ancient Ayurveda. The Health Ministry has announced that all Ayurvedic doctors as well as patients can report any adverse effects of Ayurveda to a regulatory body that will investigate the matter and take legal actions against the company to ensure a ‘clean’ reputation for the Ayurvedic drugs.

 

The national research centre selected for this program is the Post Graduate Institute of Ayurveda at the Gujarat Ayurveda University, Jamnagar. There will be eight regional centres under this apex body that will report individual cases to the committee. The committee will cross check the cases before taking any decision. The committee will also report the case to the World Health Organization if the violation of norms is of serious nature. Such a pharmacovigilance initiative has also been taken in the past for preventing the corruption in the manufacturing and selling of modern allopathic medicines, but it yielded no result, thanks to corrupt doctors and irresponsible pharma companies.

 

For a $300 million market in India alone, and almost $1 billion world over, this was a move that had to come sooner or later. They say, “Health is wealth”. Better if India understands the potential of its traditional medicines promising heath to the individual and wealth to the economy!

Avoid Fake Herbal Medicine Companies

Herbal medicines are consumed by almost 80% of the world’s population. In India alone, the industry stands at a huge $1 billion. The demand comes from the people’s faith in the 5000 year old science of life. Despite many allegations, people never lose their faith in Ayurvedic medicines. This leads to an increase in demand over the years. This is primarily because of the distrust associated to anything chemical, and modern drugs are composed of chemicals and nothing else. Herbal medicines stand for anything natural, and provide us a chance to establish an association with nature. This explains the consumer attitudes behind the purchase decisions.

But, the fly-by-night quack Ayurvedic companies are taking advantage of this faith. According to a recent finding, a whopping twenty percent of Ayurvedic medicines sold over the Internet contains over permissible limits of lead, mercury, or arsenic. The conclusion was arrived at after the researchers of a university purchased 193 samples of medicines available over the Internet and analyzed them for possible toxicity. And their doubts came to be true. 

This is shocking since the herbal medicine market is mainly a export oriented market and the main demand comes from the foreigners, affected by health tourism and looking towards the east to fix their physiological problems. These guys are an easily decieved lot, and seldom cross check the products or even the profile of the company. The decision is influenced by an eye catching design of the website and a compelling copy that enthralls the readers. Some aggressive and often misguided SEO efforts lead to high Page Rank which makes the company listed among the first few pages of any search engine. Most of these products flaunt a GMP certification and there is no means by which you can verify this certification. 

So, if you are living abroad and looking for herbal remedies to relieve you of asthma or other chronic illnesses, then don’t go for any Tom-Dick-or Harry manufacturer. Take time to know more about the disease, its chances of recovery and the available medications. If you are purchasing something over the Internet, do a Google search for the company to look for any media mention or press release that has come out in a national daily. Also, look for the research and development work of the company. Remember, Ayurveda is not just a quack medication. You can’t just mix some herbs, boil them and say, “Here is a miracle cure for Asthma!” It requires careful clinical experimentation and a proper lab-oriented approach to churn out the right medicine. Thankfully, the research work of Asoka Lifescience Limited is undertaken by Jadavpur University, one of the largest universities in Asia. Just the right approach needed to rub off the blemishes that fake companies put on Ayurveda.

More Companies Enter Ayurvedic Segment

Ayurvedic industry is gaining momentum in the Indian subcontinent and major pharmaceutical companies are diversifying their reach to cater to the growing demands of the herbal remedies. After Ranbaxy and Cadilla, the next big name to enter the Ayurveda market is Ipca Laboratories, a Mumbai based pharmaceutical company with assets of Rs1100 crore. However, the ayurvedic drugs are going to be marketed through a new subsidiary called Ipca Traditional Remedies that has been set up especially for the segment. The company has also invested Rs.20 crore for its new endeavour.

The targeted ailments that Ipca’s medicines promise to cure reveal an interesting story. Ipca launches medicines for acute viral hepatitis, anaemia, anorexia and fatigue. Later on, medications for asthma, bronchitis, nasal allergies, acute promyelocytic leukaemia and others would also be introduced. Ranbaxy and Cadilla had already started their herbal segment, and this time it’s Ipca. Ayurvedic drugs are already a rage all across the world. The entire industry stands at an estimated Rs. 6000-7000 crore. With a new entrant in the market, competition is going to be even tougher and that will only ensure global standards of manufacturing. Gradually, the small enterprises that thrive on the blind beliefs of people, encashing Ayurveda as a ‘6000 year old science of life’ will be wiped out. This can be good as well as bad. The good thing is that Ayurveda will get brand names and those still fascinated by the magical efficacy of modern drugs will revert to Ayurveda. The bad thing is that with the small companies losing out to brand competition, other small enterprises will be discouraged to enter the segment. This can cause growth of monopoly power in an increasingly disproportionate market.

However the sad part is that all these companies using Ayurveda as a means of diversification are using it only to boost up sales that modern drugs are failing to cover. Talk about India being the dumping ground for banned medicines from the US! These companies are focusing mostly on lifestyle and beauty segments. Let’s see what remedy for asthma Ipca can bring out.

In this respect, Asoka Lifescience Limited has done a plausible job by launching a unique drug for asthma. It’s one step above the conventional Ayurvedic segment. It’s called poly herbal and the tablet called Res-Q has been made by using a novel drug delivery system, after research and development done by Jadavpur University. Let’s see if the biggies will walk the extra mile and focus on finding out ways to relieve the people of more serious chronic ailements other than remedies to grow hair on a shiny pate or modifying the vital assets of the  human body.

Novel Drug Delivery For a Layman

In the formal launch of our first product Res-Q, the world’s first poly-herbal mouth dissolving tablet for respiratory distress, the man behind the medicine Prof. Bishwanath Sa of the Pharm. Tech. Deptt of Jadavpur University enlightened us on the concept of a novel drug delivery system. I’m going to copy and paste the exact speech in this post. Hope you enjoy reading it!

“About 4 yrs ago, one young gentleman came to me and expressed his desire to develop a poly herbal product based on research and development. He also emphasized that the product should be made using the form of novel drug delivery system, and not in the conventional form of churna, powder, paste, or ordinary tablets. We have selected some time tested constituents which have been recognized by the Indian system of medicine as safe and efficacious. Respiratory distress was out first area of interest, because of the growing environmental pollution. We scanned through the plant products and selected some constituents that have been proved to be effective for centuries. These plants grow in different regions. Depending upon the geographical conditions the active constituents may vary. After collecting the plants, we separated the extracts. Then we thought of incorporating the novel drug delivery system. Let us understand what novel drug delivery is.

 

When we take a tablet, we swallow it. Now what is the journey of the drug in the body? It reaches the stomach and breaks down to the components of the drug. The drug dissolves in the fluid of stomach and intestine. Then it crosses the gastro intestinal barrier and reaches the blood. Finally, it goes to the liver, and then to the blood and finally the target area.

 

In case of these plant products, or modern medicine or chemical constituents, there is a great possibility that many compounds will be destroyed in the highly acidic pH of the stomach. The absorption of many drugs will be interfered by the presence of covalent areas. And many components may be metabolized by the liver before reaching the blood. The consequence is the actual amount of the drug may not reach the blood. If the drug doesn’t reach the blood at a minimum level which is known as ‘minimum effective level’ then there will be no therapeutic effect. So when our doctor tell us to take baasak in a cup of boiling water, the amount of baasak might not have reached the blood, not producing the desired effect. To counter this problem, pharmaceutical technology is looking for alternative route of administration. Our oral cavity is perfused with blood. Blood comes from carotid artery in the mouth and returns to the heart directly through general circulation through jugular vein. If we place the drug in the oral cavity, it will bypass the acidic pH of the stomach; bypass the interference of food material in stomach, and the food metabolism. This was the basic idea behind incorporating novel method of drug delivery in our poly herbal product making it the world’s first poly herbal mouth dissolving tablet for respiratory distress and giving it an efficacy equivalent to that of Sorbitrate.”