The clinical trial of a siddha drug to treat osteoarthritis (OA) disease has come to a halt due to lack of patients in the research institutes of siddha in Chennai and its regional centre at Thiruvananthapuram.

The crores of worth research project funded by CCRS in New Delhi could be completed in another few months should the institutes get a minimum of 30 recruits with OA disease. The pilot study conducted at the headquarters centre in Chennai proved safe, said Dr S Selvarajan, research officer at the regional institute at Thiruvananthapuram.

The drug, OA-1, (a coded drug), will establish a possible hope for the patients suffering from OA. New strategies will be applied to attract more patients and all efforts will be taken to resume the trial very soon. Along with OA-1, we are giving ‘vaatha kesari thailam’ for external use, said Dr Selvarajan.

“There are some inclusive and exclusive criteria for screening and trials. We are applying the inclusive criteria. People within the age group of 25-45 are selected for conducting the clinical trials. So far we could screen ten people, out of them one person was found fit for the trial. To satisfy our requirement of 30, we need to screen at least three hundred people”, he told Pharmabiz.

People with blood pressure, cholesterol, urine problems, sugar and diabetes cannot be administered the drug. All the patients coming for treatment will be sent to DDRC for objective parameter analysis. The radiologists will certify whether the patient is suffering from OA. According to his report, the drug will be administered. The pharmacological studies conducted in animal models in Chennai centre have not exhibited any toxic effect.

Osteoarthritis is a common progressive degenerative joint disease with multiple etiologies. Individuals with OA suffer from pain, muscle weakness, loss of joint range of motion, and increasing disability. In osteoarthritis, the cartilage in joints gets damaged, disrupting the smooth gliding motion of the joint surfaces. The result is pain, swelling, and deformity, Dr Selvarajan said.