The Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), in association with the Kochi-based Mir Holistics Private Limited, has submitted a joint International Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) application for patent rights for a herbal compound, claimed to be the first cent per cent side effects free herbal tobacco and smoking cessation drug.
Disclosing the development to Pharmabiz in Chennai, K Arun Kumar, managing director of Mir Holistics Private Limited said, the joint patent application was filed this week (386/NF/2004/11th October). The National Botanical Research Institute (NBRI) at Lucknow under the CSIR and Mir signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) a few weeks ago to subject the product anticig to further modern research. The drug was developed by Mir after many years of research from a combination of 16 odd herbs including spices ingredients, mentioned in traditional Ayurvedic texts. The patent application covers to launch the product in international markets as aerosole, spray, chewing gum, ointment and tablets.
As per the MoU, CSIR and Mir would equally contribute for the corpus Rs 50 lakh for advanced product validation, upgradation, research and standardization to effectively sell the drug in global markets. CSIR would receive royalty fees as per standard norms from the revenues of the drug.
Further, the World Health Organisation (WHO) office in India is at present evaluating anticig as per its protocols and parameters with plans of roping in the drug among WHOs worldwide campaigns against tobacco usage and smoking habits. The six-month project up to November this year is being executed by ADIC, a Thiruvananthapuram-based NGO in the field of de-addiction. Data related to the clinical studies on the efficacy of anticig conducted among 100 people would be submitted to WHO by the end of the project.
Joy Varghese, the expert Ayurvedic consultant for Mir explained the drug was subjected to detailed toxicity and safety studies and clinical trials. Acute and subchronic toxicity studies on single animals, besides bioavailability and phyto-standardization studies and clinical trials with 100 odd people were held at the Thrissur Ayurvedic Medical College. The trials showed 80 per cent success for the product.
Arun Kumar said the drug, soft launched during February this year, was at present exported to Russia, Latvia, Canada and Sri Lanka. Mir has opened an office in Russia and is in the process of opening an office in London to look after the EU markets. In India, the drug has good presence in Gujarath, Madhya Pradesh, Delhi and Kerala.
In a significant development, Mir has joined hands with the Apollo Hospital group to popularize anticig through the de-addiction centres attached to the Apollo hospitals. The first de-addiction camp was launched at the Apollo hospital at Ghatlodia in Ahmedabad. Mir has opened an online de-addiction clinic in its website www.anticig.com to popularize the product and to campaign against the evils of tobacco and smoking habits. At present Mir Holistics, mainly into health tourism, is contract manufacturing the product through a WHO-GMP certified firm in Kerala, and produces 5 lakh tablets per month.