Joint Efforts on Drug Development with Industry for Covid 19 is Important for Positioning AYUSH Globally: Ayush Secretary

New Delhi: AYUSH Committee, PHDCCI organized a Webinar on 'Industry Initiatives to supplement efforts of the AYUSH Ministry to boost the AYUSH sector' held on 22 nd December 2020.

The webinar was graced with the presence of Shri Vaidya Rajesh Kotecha, Secretary, Ministry of AYUSH, Govt. of India, Padma Bhushan Vd. Devendera Triguna, President of AMAM, All India Ayurvedic Congress and Ayurveda Mahasammelan, Shri Pramod Kumar Pathak, Additional Secretary, Ministry of AYUSH, Govt. of India, Dr. Manoj Nesari, Advisor (Ay.) Ministry of AYUSH, Govt. of India, Dr. D.C. Katoch, Advisor(Ay.) Ministry of AYUSH, Govt. of India, Dr. J.L.N Sastry, CEO, National Medicinal Plants Board, Ministry of AYUSH, Govt. of India, Shri Anurag Sharma, Member of Parliament and Director, Shree Baidyanath Ayurved Bhawan Pvt Ltd, Mr. Pradeep Multani, Sr. Vice President, PHDCCI, Mr. Arvind Varchaswi, Chair, AYUSH Committee, PHDCCI, Mr. Jitender Sodhi, Co- Chair, AYUSH Committee, PHDCCI and today's session moderator Mr. Vivek Seigell, Assistant Secretary General, PHDCCI.

The other eminent panelist present were Dr. Santosh Joshi, Sr. General Manager, R&D, Hamdard Laboratories India, Dr. Vijendra Prakash, GM- Regulatory, Corporate Affairs Himalaya Drug Company, Dr. C.K. Katiyar, CEO, Health Care (Technical), Emami Ltd, Dr. Rajiv Rai, Head Research, Dabur India India and Mr. Sameer Kant Ahuja, Chief Manager (Regulatory), Multani Pharmaceuticals Ltd.

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While welcoming the Government dignitaries and Industry member Mr. Pradeep Multani, Sr. Vice President, PHDCCI talked about Industry initiatives to supplement efforts of the AYUSH Ministry to boost the entire AYUSH sector in India. He mentioned that AYUSH Industry & sector as a whole highly appreciates the wonderful and outstanding initiatives of the Hon'ble Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi Ji, Hon'ble AYUSH Minister Shri Shripad Yesso Naik, Hon'ble Secretary Vaidya Rajesh Kotecha Ji and all officials of Ministry of AYUSH for their concrete initiatives to BOOST the AYUSH Sector.

Multani also talked about Advisories issued by the Ministry of AYUSH, Ministry of Health & Family Welfare, Govt. of India, which have led to increased demand for AYUSH products and services in India. As the current demand for Chyawanprash and other immunity products have been doubled in the last few months.

Shri Vaidya Rajesh Kotecha, Secretary, Ministry of AYUSH, Govt. of India talked about research programs & drug development and how industry can take initiatives and work together with Ministry of AYUSH, Govt. of India to take the system forward. Secretary, AYUSH said that the large scale drug development is missing in AYUSH industry. He further said there is a lot of curiosity in the world about AYUSH system and we have to capitalize the same otherwise someone else will take the advantage. He also talked about the current demand of Ayurveda products for example of Ashwagandha and how the industry could capitalize it growth from branding point of view. He also urged the entire AYUSH Industry to work jointly and should look forward to come up with medicine for COVID-19.

Padma Bhushan Vd. Devendra Triguna, President of AMAM, All India Ayurvedic Congress and Ayurveda Mahasammelan thanked Ministry of AYUSH, Govt. of India for contributing during challenging times for boosting the AYUSH Industry. He urged academia and Industry to come forward and work together. He mentioned that there's a need for Industry to work on various research-based projects on medicinal plants as it will be help in creating more demand in the future.

Manoj Nesari, Advisor (Ay.) Ministry of AYUSH, Govt. of India talked about new opportunity for AYUSH companies, where Embassy of Uzbekistan required few sample of Ayurvedic products, which will be later on exported to the country. Dr. Nesari also thanked all Industry members for sharing various initiatives to boost the AYUSH sector.

Anurag Sharma, Member of Parliament and Director, Shree Baidyanath Ayurved Bhawan Pvt Ltd talked about vision of Hon'ble Prime Minister of India & Hon'ble Minister of AYUSH, Govt. of India to take the entire system forward. Mr. Sharma also talked latest decision of Ministry of Commerce and Industry and the Ministry of AYUSH to set up an export promotion council to boosts AYUSH exports. He also mentioned about the traditional medicines, as it is accepted worldwide and said that this pandemic has given a new opportunity to take it ahead. Mr. Sharma said their company have been doing a lot of research and clinical trials on covid patients and sponsoring various Ayurvedic colleges to promote research work related to Ayurveda. He also appreciated the efforts of the Ministry of AYUSH, Govt. of India for their immense contribution during ongoing pandemic for taking the system ahead.

Mr. Arvind Varchaswi, Chair, AYUSH Committee, PHDCCI shared a brief presentation about few initiatives taken by Sri Sri Tattva in the research development and various clinical trials for promoting the sector. He also mentioned about effect of AYUSH medicine in the management of COVID-19. Mr. Varchaswi talked about various clinical studies and role of Immunomodulators as add on treatment in Asystomatic and mild symptomatic covid-19 treatment and immunity products from Sri Sri Tattva that played an important role in building overall immunity. He also mentioned about their company have distributed 10,000 doses of kabasura Kudineer tablets to the Director of AYUSH Delhi for conducting a study. He said their doctors have been participating in various webinar for sharing their thoughts and knowledge to promote the system.

Dr. C.K. Katiyar, CEO, Health Care (Technical), Emami Ltd shared a brief presentation about contribution of Emami Limited for AYUSH during COVID-19 pandemic. He said their company have launched 15 new products for Immunity and Hygiene and also Initiated 2 Clinical trials and 2 Collaborative Research project for Prophylactic and therapeutic use as add on therapy. Dr. Katiyar also mentioned about COVID-19 specific clinical trials and ongoing research projects of their company.

Dr. Vijendra Prakash, GM- Regulatory, Corporate Affairs Himalaya Drug Company thanked Ministry of AUSH, Govt. of India for their continuous support in promoting the AYUSH system. He mentioned that their company is ready and will continue to support for strandlilization and research for any products that will promote the AYUSH system of medicine.

Dr. Rajiv Rai, Head Research, Dabur India talked about various initiatives taken by Dabur India for boosting the AYUSH Sector. He mentioned they have been doing cultivation for medicinal plants in 5000 acres with collaborations with National Medicinal Plants Board. He also talked about RM quality control and strandilization of raw materials. He also talked about the Green House for sample testing and for sustainable supply of materials. He also mentioned about buy back contracts with farmers for the cultivation of various products. Dr. Rai shared details about various research and clinical trials activities by following strict ICMR guidelines for more than 100 clinical studies. He mentioned that they have submitted various clinical studies for COVID-19 to Ministry of AYUSH, Govt. of India for their consideration.

Dr. Santosh Joshi, Sr. General Manager, R&D, Hamdard Laboratories India shared a brief presentation talked about Hamdard's Initiatives in clinical trial on Unani Medicines. He mentioned about Awareness Campaign on "Health India" and about Immunity related new products launched by Hamdard to boost the overall AYUSH Sector.

Sameer Kant Ahuja, Chief Manager (Regulatory), Multani Pharmaceuticals Ltd in his presentation talked about various initiatives of Multani Pharmaceuticals in Promoting AYUSH sector. He have Collaborated with different pharmaceutical colleges for creating literatures for their product with scientific evidences and Signed an MOU with Delhi Pharmaceuticals Sciences & Research University, Govt. of NCT of Delhi for R&D and formulation development for their immune booster products. He said their company has launched complete Immune booster range of products during COVID-19 pandemic.

Jitender Sodhi, Co- Chair, AYUSH Committee, PHDCCI shared about their company is producing herbal bases products and various essential oils etc. He said during the ongoing pandemic they have distributed various Ayurveda products to policemen and frontline workers. He also urged Ministry of AYUSH, Govt. of India to make cluster for modern medicine, which will create availability for the Industry and will solve problem related to harvesting and storage. He also urged Ministry of AYUSH to provide subsidies to farmers, which will be encourage them and help in doubling their income. He also talked about foreign partners interested in investing in AYUSH sector, which will definitely boost AYUSH sector to another level.

Arvind Varchaswi, Chair, AYUSH Committee, PHDCCI gave a formal vote of thanks and concluded the webinar.

The webinar was sponsored by AYUSH Herbs Private Limited and Association of Manufacturers of Ayurvedic Medicine (AMAM).

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