New Delhi: Patanjali Ayurveda Friday announced that its Coronil tablet has been upgraded as “supportive” treatment for Covid-19 by the Narendra Modi government.
Yoga guru Ramdev also announced the receipt of the certification of pharmaceutical products (CoPP) from the World Health Organization (WHO) permitting the export of the company’s medicine — Divya Coronil Tablet and Divya Swasari Vati — to 158 countries.
CoPP is a certificate issued in the format recommended by WHO to establish that the pharmaceutical product and its producer are eligible for export to other countries.
The CoPP — issued to the company by Drug Controller General of India V.G. Somani, under the WHO certification scheme on 5 November — was promoted by Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan and Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari at a press conference Friday.
Ramdev, in June last year, launched the Covid kit — a pack comprising three products, including a medicine named Coronil — and touted it as a “cure” for the novel coronavirus, which still has no known cure, despite researchers worldwide toiling in its pursuit.
However, the Patanjali product soon ran into a controversy over the absence of proper clinical trial data to back its claim, and the fact that it had sought permission to sell it as a medicine for cough, fever, and boosting immunity.
In December, Haridwar-based firm had placed a request with the AYUSH ministry for “updating the AYUSH Licence for Coronil tablets from immunity booster to the medicine for Covid-19”.
The proposal, according to the letter issued to the company by the Ministry of AYUSH and published by Patanjali Ayurveda in its booklet, was placed before Dr S.K. Maulik, former professor, department of pharmacology, AIIMS. “Committee appraised and observed that the core ingredients like Tulsi, Ashwagandha are included in the National Clinical Protocol for Covid-19 and also based on the rational and inference of their presentation, it is suggested that it may be used as supporting measure in Covid19,” said the letter dated 7 January.
ThePrint has confirmed the genuineness of the letter from the Ministry of AYUSH. “The letter is genuine but we have strictly told the company to not promote the medicine as ‘cure’ but only as ‘supportive’ treatment,” said a senior official.
“It means that the treatment of patients will be primarily done using the allopathic medicines prescribed under the national treatment protocol and Patanjali’s Coronil can be given as supportive or supplementary medicine, if required,” the official explained.
Efficacy study published in peer-reviewed journal: Patanjali
The company has cited publication of its study in peer-reviewed journal Science Direct in its April 2021 edition.
The study, done on 45 people who got the treatment and 50 who got the dummy pills (placebo), concluded that the “ayurvedic treatment can expedite virological clearance, help in faster recovery and concomitantly reduce the risk of viral dissemination”.
It said the “reduced inflammation markers suggested less severity of SARS-CoV-2 infection in the treatment group”.
“Moreover, there was no adverse effect observed to be associated with this treatment.”
The company claimed it has submitted its research to several other popular peer-reviewed journals and expects the publication soon.
Ayurveda industry expanding globally: Harsh Vardhan
At the press conference, Health Minister Harsh Vardhan said the value of Indian Ayurveda industry was around Rs 30,000 crore in pre-Covid era with an annual growth of 15-20%.
However, he said, this value has boosted multiple folds after the outbreak of Covid with the latest growth rate of 50-90%.
“We are happy that Patanjali Ayurveda is testing its medicines through the processes which were only followed in modern medicine such as legitimate clinical trials. It will lead to more demand and trust of such traditional medicines. Recently, we are already seeing a marked improvement in the export and foreign direct investments in the sector,” he said, adding that Ayurveda should be used in supplementation with Allopathic medicines. “A holistic approach should be adopted.”
He also said as many as 109 studies have been started on traditional medicines at 140 places in the last one year. “Out of the total studies, 32 studies are based on the treatment aspect whereas others are for prevention.”
Also read: Not a ‘cure’ for Covid but Patanjali’s Coronil kit & drugs are a big hit, 85 lakh units sold
Errata: Peer-reviewed journal Science Direct in its April 2021 edition.
Year should be 2020 not 2021.