The Himalaya Drug Company is all set to strengthen its research activities in areas of oncology, women’s health, tropical diseases and hepatitis B. These disorders and diseases would be the key focus of the in the coming years.

“There is immense potential for well-researched, safe and efficacious herbal formulation both in India and overseas. This is fuelled by a growing realization amongst medical practitioners across specialities that integrated healthcare, incorporating the best of different medical systems, will provide better treatment options to patients”, Philipe Haydon, president & CEO, pharmaceuticals, The Himalaya Drug Company told Pharmabiz .

“We will continue to strengthen our research base, launch new products, enter new countries and increase accessibility in our present markets. The need of the hour is to provide evidence-based research. This will help establish integrative medicine,” he added.

Both allopathic drugs and well-researched herbal medicines have an important role in healthcare. Traditional systems of medicine offer effective treatment options for chronic conditions. They also play a vital role in preventive care. However, there needs to be a synergy across different healthcare practices. For instance, National Health Service (NHS) in the UK is funding alternative medicine. In the US, National Centre for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM) has been actively promoting holistic well-being, Haydon pointed out.

Recently Himalaya was the only Indian company invited to present a paper on its drug ‘Cystone’, prescribed for urinary tract infections at The International Congress on Complementary Medicine Research (ICCMR) at Tromso, Norway. “This is because our products are validated by modern scientific research and therefore widely prescribed by doctors practicing allopathic medicine. For instance, Liv 52 is prescribed in Russia for hepatitis, alcohol-induced liver damage, as well for protection against hepatotoxic drugs such as anti-tuberculosis drugs and statins,” he said.

Although India has been known for Ayurveda, the herbal formulation space has only a handful of well-known manufacturers - Himalaya, Dabur, Baidyanath, Kottakal to name a few. There still exists a huge presence of tiny and small scale producers.

According to Haydon, the organized sector has few players and even here, there exists a clear distinction between Himalaya and the rest of the players since the company promotes ‘Contemporary Ayurveda’ as compared to ‘Classical Ayurveda’ which is practiced by most other companies.

The Department of Ayush has identified measures to regulate the unorganized sector and several positive changes would occur within the industry over the next 2-3 years. There has also been a paradigm shift in health management, from curative to preventive, which has helped promote the sector.

Himalaya exports to 71 countries. It is the only herbal company in India to be granted a GLP Certificate (Good Laboratory Practice Certificate) and with a WHO- GMP compliant manufacturing unit.

However, since the registration and regulatory process are expensive and time consuming, very few companies are able to operate in the international market. Here again, the Department of Ayush is building awareness for Indian traditional systems of medicine through promotional campaigns and by adopting stringent quality control and regulatory measures, he said.

Himalaya is a Rs. 1,000 crore plus company with a CAGR of 26 per cent over the last three years.