Highlights

*Swami Ramdev’s Patanjali Ayurved  has launched two Coronavirus medicines.

*The Ministry of Ayush has asked the company to prove its claims.

The world is waiting with a bated breath for a drug to cure Coronavirus till a vaccine comes up. Amidst the Pandemic, Yoga Guru Ramdev’s brand Patanjali Ayurved Ltd has developed two Ayurvedic drugs `Coronil and Swasari’.

Patanjali’s founder Ramdev told the media yesterday that the medicines were developed based on research and trials on 280 patients across the country, The medicines come in a Corona kit priced at Rs 545, which was to be sold across India within a week. But, this has been challenged by the Ayush Ministry because it had no knowledge of the scientific study in question.

The government statement said that, “Facts of the claim by Patanjali and details of the stated scientific study are not known to the Ministry. Patanjali Ayurved Ltd has been asked to provide at the earliest details of the name and composition of the medicines being claimed for COVID treatment; site(s)/hospital(s), where the research study was conducted for COVID-19; protocol, sample size, Institutional Ethics Committee clearance, Clinical Trial Registry details and results data of the study and stop advertising/publicising such claims till the issue is duly examined.

Patanjali CEO Acharya Balkrishna said they have 100 per cent fulfilled all standard parameters for Randomised Placebo-Controlled Clinical Trials and the information has been given to the Ministry of AYUSH.

“This government provides encouragement and pride to Ayurveda. Communication gap has been done away with and we have 100 per cent fulfilled all standard parameters for Randomised Placebo-Controlled Clinical Trials. We’ve given info for the same to Ministry of AYUSH,” Mr Balkrishna was quoted.

Ministry of Ayush

The Ministry further said Patanjali has been informed that such advertisements of drugs including Ayurvedic medicines are regulated under the provisions of Drugs and Magic Remedies (Objectionable Advertisements) Act, 1954 and Rules thereunder and the directives issued by the central government in the wake of COVID-19 outbreak and Ministry a notification had been issued on April 21 stating the requirements and manner in which research studies on COVID-19 with Ayush interventions and medicines should be undertaken.

Two police complaints have also been filed against Patanjali – one in Rajasthan and the other in Haryana – for “misleading the public” and launching a medicine without the go-ahead from the Indian Council of Medical Research or ICMR.

Patanjali collaborated with the privately-owned National Institute of Medical Sciences or NIMS University, Jaipur.

“With the help of NIMS, Jaipur we conducted the clinical control study on 95 patients. The biggest thing which came out of this is that within three days 69 per cent patients recovered and became negative from positive (cases) and within seven days 100 per cent of them became negative,” said Ramdev.

Tests had been done on all kinds of patients except those who are highly infected and are on life support systems as ventilators, said the Yoga guru. “Trials on the infected people who are on a ventilation support system are still due.

There is no scientific evidence of any alternative cure for COVID-19, even as vaccines are being tested by many countries. The World Health Organisation has also cautioned against such claims.