Nandan Biomatrix has carried out safety studies of Safed Musli on animals and completed clinical trials proving the effect on oligospermia and combating stress.

The company is planning to offer dry root, root powder, aqueous extract, solvent extract, beverage and formulation. It is targeting pharmaceutical companies by offering bulk extracts, formulations and specialty products. It will provide formulation and scientific support for nutraceutical companies. It plans to set up three processing and extraction units exclusively for Safed Musli, Aloe Vera and Jatropha in its horticulture-processing park, being developed near Hyderabad.

It has established collaboration with research institutions such as Indian Institute of Chemical Technology (Hyderabad), National Chemicals Laboratory (Pune) and University of Department of Chemical Technology (Mumbai) for carrying out validation and clinical trials. The company is finding potential to export in markets such as the US, Europe, Japan, Malaysia, Middle East and Africa, V Bhaskar Rao, managing director of Nandan Biomatrix told Pharmabiz.

In addition, it has identified several herbs and medicinal plants that hold good demand, process and derive extracts from these plants in the forms of powders and gels. It is identifying the therapeutic value of medicinal plants. These extracts are intended to be supplied to the pharmaceuticals industry as bulk drugs. The raw materials for these extracts are cultivated by using superior crop varieties. The company is the first to get crop insurance for medicinal plants.

About 21 medicinal plants have been identified by the company so far which can find application in developing herbal drugs, of which Nandan will initially be laying emphasis on three medicinal plants namely- Aloe vera (Ghrita Kumari), Jatropha curcas (Ratanjyot) and Chlorophytum borivilianum (Safed Musli). He added, "Aloe Vera has good demand in the US. Over two-lakh hectares area is to be used for cultivation of Jatropha.

Other medicinal plants on which Nandan plans to do detailed research are Withania somnifera (Aswagandha), Garcinia indica (Kokum), Bacopa monnieri (Brahmi), Curcuma longa (Turmeric), Adathoda vasica (Vasa), Tinospora cordifolia (Guduchi), Commiphora mukul (Guggul), Vinca rosea (Vinca), Stevia rebaudiana (Stevia), Coleus spp (Coleus), Asparagus racemosus (Asparagus), Aegle marmelos (Bael), Ocimum sanctum, Taxus baccata, Azadirachta indica, Dioscorea, Artemisia.

He informed, the company is exporting the bulk extracts to Natron and Genni Herbs of US, who in turn are marketing them to pharmaceuticals industry in the US. It has tied up with Texas-based Aloe Queen for product off-takes and is looking at another tie-up with UK-based Synergy Foundation for development of backward integration facilities for nutraceuticals. The bulk extracts have good demand in the US, UK and Middle East.

Nandan, focusing on discovery and validation, is currently in the process of validating the curative potential and utility aspects. It has built an advanced medicinal plants research and resource centre in an area of 104 acres at Zaheerabad near Hyderabad. The research centre is working on the medicinal plants having potential to find an answer to life style disorders, skin diseases and impotency.