Until a few years ago, even the leading Ayurvedic drug manufacturing firms in South India, especially in Kerala with its 80-odd active Ayurvedic drug making firms, were following the conventional methods practiced for ages to manufacture drugs.

Most of them, including the descendents of the Ashtavaidya families, were branded as traditional drug houses concentrating more on the treatment side, rather than absorbing technology changes happening in the world of drugs to leverage the opportunities available beyond India.

Now the scenario has totally changed. Thanks to the Schedule T mandate or may be due to market reasons, more than 80 per cent of the Ayurvedic drug industry in Kerala and Tamilnadu have set up high quality drug manufacturing facilities, including a majority of the leaders opting for WHO GMP certification, according to respective state DCA officials.

Unlike the traditional Vaidyas who practiced Ayurveda as a divine vocation and were reluctant to see it as business, now hardcore management professionals are running the show in most of these firms. As a result, drastic changes are seen in the process of drug manufacturing, packaging, marketing and exports.

With a new trade regime round the corner, many of the leading firms like Kottackal Arya Vaidya Sala, Coimbatore Arya Vaidya Pharmacy, KAPL, Vaidyarathnam Thaikkattu Mooss Oushadhasala, Sitaram, Madurai Arvind Herbal labs etc. are concentrating on developing value added and innovative drugs and nutraceuticals with a global marketing perspective. Firms like Kottackal and AVP had initiated the process of patenting their drugs many years back.

Quality drug manufacturing and standardization is the prime area of concentration for most of these firms. Kottackal Arya Vaidya Sala has successfully developed a 'herbs authentication system' to check quality and scientific analysis of the herbal raw materials used in drug manufacturing, in collaboration with the Central Electronics Engineering Research Institute (CEERI), Chennai, Indian Institute of Chemical Technology (IICT), Hyderabad and the Department of Science and Technology (DST), New Delhi.

Further, it has started a Centre for Medicinal Plant Research & Development, an advanced herbal R&D and standardization facility to conduct extensive research into areas like taxonomy, anatomy, genetic research, tissue culture, phytochemistry and extension of rare herbs and herbal compounds. The centre, started in association with the Mumbai based Sir Sorabji Tata Trust, is to identify, codify, standardize and patent endangered herbs, besides developing life saving drugs of global standards. Kottakkal Arya Vaidyasala is also undertaking a Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) funded research programme to develop bioactive molecules, establish standardization procedures and to improve the processing and preservation techniques for Ayurvedic medicines.

Similarly, AVP has embarked on a path-breaking mission to popularize and change the face of Ayurveda, by converting traditional Kaashayams, Lehyams and Choornams into user-friendly tablet forms. "Many people do not prefer Ayurvedic drugs for its strict dosages, taste of Kashayams (in liquid form), different combinations and various procedures to be followed like certain tablets that require dilution in kashayams for consumption etc. Our effort is to popularize and make it user friendly to any people of any age and class" says Dr.P.T.Chacko, a veteran in the field and General Manager (Technical) of AVP, which is also launching a dozen odd new value-added herbal cosmetics and drugs. Eyeing future, AVP has tied with the National Institutes of Health (NIH) under the US Department of Health and Human Services Department, to undertake advanced research and drug development by combining Ayurvedic tradition and modern medicine.

Most of the companies, even established pharma companies into allopathy drugs, are lured to the hype associated with herbal drugs. For example, two Chennai based pharma majors like Arvindh Remedies and Apex Laboratories, now concentrate more on herbal drugs. Apex laboratories ltd., which ventured into the manufacturing of herbal medicines through its herbal division Green Milk Co., is eyeing the African and European markets for its five herbal drugs readying for commercial production, namely Dianex antidiabetic tablet, Immunit immunostimulant tablet, Liveral for curing hepato-bilary disorders, Cardolin cardio protective tablets and Poweromin, an aphrodisiac. Importantly, apex has taken care to launch these drugs after elaborate scientific and clinical validation by reputed agencies.

The company has also entered into a tripartite Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the J.S.S. College of Pharmacy, Ooty and the Technology Information, Forecasting and Assessment Council (TIFAC), New Delhi, to carry out advanced research into development of marker compounds of herbal drugs.

The Rs 120 crore-odd Arvind Remedies is registering significant growth these days in its revenue and profits, thanks to good response for its herbal range of products, especially Pankare, an anti-diabetic drug and Sorexil for bedsores and ulcers. According to Arvindh Shah, Managing Director, ARL, herbal drugs would contribute significantly to ARL in future as the company is entering the developed countries with its herbal drugs. Further, Arvind Remedies has three products under development, now under clinical trials in the areas of Cardiology, Nephrology and Dermatology.

Even small-scale firms are eyeing overseas markets and are concentrating on quality products with value addition. "In future, survival will be for quality manufacturers. That is why we are setting up high quality manufacturing facility with WHO-GMP norms" says Dr.Saji Kumar, Managing Director of Warriers Ayurveda, an emerging drug manufacturing firm in Kerala. The firm is in the process of launching a series of herbal cosmetics and medicines within a year, some of them claimed to be unique.

According to Dr.R.Aravindh, Chairman & Managing Director of Aravindh Herbal Labs, Madurai, one among the leading Siddha drug-manufacturing firms in Tamil Nadu, the company is diversifying to manufacture Ayurveda and Homoeopathic drugs by setting up two separate divisions to manufacture Ayurveda and Homeopathic drugs. Initially, the company is planning to make 60 different Ayurvedic drugs of volume 2-3 tonnes in the first year, mainly lehyams and choornams including Chyavanaprasham and Aswagandha.