India’s rich bio-diversity in herbs has now attracted the US to look for possible collaboration in the area of integrative medicine.

In the last two years, the setting up of the Centre for Research in Indian Systems of Medicine  (CRISM)  by the Department of Ayush at the National Centre for Natural Products Research, University of Mississippi, USA has increased the co-operation in the field of development of Ayurveda-Siddha-Unani (ASU) herbal and botanical products of global standards.

The  Centre is  facilitating  internationally important joint research for the scientific validation of Indian Systems of Medicine (ISM) including Ayurveda, Unani and Siddha and for creating greater awareness about these systems and their products in the US and other countries.

One of the initiatives to scout for possible alliances was the  setting up of the  USP-India office at Hyderabad in 2006. This allowed  USP to work closely with Indian pharmacopoeia and ASU  manufacturers to encourage the manufacture of good-quality, safe, and effective medicines and dietary supplement ingredients and products for the US market.

In a bid to increase the possibility to further give a boost to the sector, Indo-US Symposium on Methodology of Research in Indian Systems of Medicine  was organised during the  4th edition of the bi-annual  World Ayurveda Congress 2010 in Bangalore. The symposium is focusing on  research methodology adopted for validation of ASU  products for market authorization in the global arena.

Taking  stock of the current status of research in ASU under the Indo-US initiative,  strategies are being planned to promote R&D, stated Prof. Shakir Jamil, director general, Central Council of Research in Unani Medicine (CCRUM), New Delhi.

“India needs to look at the US for its support in the handling issues of shelf life of ASU  drugs and  clinical trials among others,” stated Prof Jamil.

According to Prof SS Handa, chairman, Pharmacopoeia Commission of Indian Medicine, New Delhi, the confidence on  the quality of Indian System of Medicine has been a major issue despite the six  Indian pharmacopoeia reports and 4 volumes for Unani and Siddha Pharmacopoeia references  that have provided more clarity on the nomenclature and parameters of quality of herbal and plant medicine.

“The  major hurdle in the ASU  sector is the  execution and implementation of rules and regulations of the Drugs and Cosmetics Act by the small and medium enterprises. The need of the hour is to   strengthen drugs control administration, improve the standard of analytical labs used to test the ASU drug samples which would reinforce the current confidence levels of consumers globally and in India. But the  reality is that Indian ASU industry is shrugging  away from the data generation and protection of Intellectual Property (IP),” he added.

“We need to de-mystify the myths of ASU medicines. There is need to standardise the products and ensure a scientific acceptance of the system. These efforts would are required as  US looks to India to strengthen co-operation in  developing herbal and botanical products of global standard,” stated Dr Ram Vishwakarma, director, Indian Institute of Integrative Medicine.