The Central Government will soon launch a Golden Triangle Partnership (GTP) project, between the Department of AYUSH, Council of Scientific & Industrial Research (CSIR) and Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) to create proper synergy between traditional and modern medicine and to develop drugs of national importance.

The GTP will be a tripartite initiative in the mission mode with a five-year research target since take off, with private participation. The main goal of the project is to work on the existing classical and other Ayurvedic formulations and new herbal combinations with a holistic approach to strengthen it as a dynamic system, according to official sources.

The project will be managed through an apex committee chaired by the secretary, Department of Ayush, and an other committee on policy decisions for giving directions to the programme with the director generals of CSIR and ICMR as members, besides secretary, Dept of Ayush.

Further, the GTP will have a steering committee to suggest the steps to be taken at different stages of implementing the project. The project will identify specific diseases to work on, and the steering committee will closely monitor and interact with the specific technical advisory committees for each of the specific diseases covered under the GTP.

The project, mainly the brainchild of R A Mashelkar, CSIR director general, also envisages participation of the private sector, mainly Ayurvedic drug manufacturers. The GTP will associate with the ongoing and proposed research works of private sector drug manufacturers. The association will be mainly in the form of partnership in research and investment.

At present, the traditional medicine manufacturers have limited resources to carry out R&D activities like finding new properties of a phytoconstituent or the discovery of new phytoconstituents. The GTP's aim will be to link the research works on modern medicine going on in the premier research institutions with the R&D works of individual Ayurvedic drug manufacturing companies, and to link the modern medicine drug manufacturers with those in the ISM sector.

Sources point that while other countries were exploring into or adapting from Indian systems of medicine, efforts were little in India to scientifically study and patent the rich traditional knowledge, and the GTP will aim to safeguard the interests of the Indian Ayurvedic sector.