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An ayurvedic medicine Zingivir-H tablet developed by Pankajakasthuri Herbal Research Foundation, an ayurvedic organisation from Kerala, has got approval from the Clinical Trial Registry of India (CTRI) for clinical trials on adults who have tested positive for COVID-19.
“This drug, which is effective against respiratory infections, viral fever, acute viral bronchitis has now been found to be effective against the respiratory syncytial virus and influenza virus in the scientific studies conducted”, the company said.
In vitro experiments done at the Rajiv Gandhi Center for Biotechnology has proven that there are no side effects in the human cell.
The approval was received from the Institutional Ethics Committees (IEC), based on which the Central government’s CTRI (an arm of the Indian Council of Medical Research), has provided approval to conduct a randomised single-blinded placebo-controlled prospective multicenter interventional clinical trial to various medical colleges across the country.
“The company will start the trial in around 120 patients, 15 patients have already been administered as part of the trial and end of May results will come out,” Hareendran Nair, managing director of the company, said.
Currently, it is only being tested at the Mysore Medical College and Research Institute (MMCRI) with a sample size of 120 patients with 15 people already enrolled.
“Zingivir-H has seven ingredients including herbomineral and these have been prescribed in our scientific manuscript. It has been part of our clinical practice for so many years. I have been using this formula for nearly 15 years for viral fever, acute viral bronchitis and contagious fever and have got fantastic results,” Nair added.
According to Hareendran Nair, the founder of the Pankajakasthuri Herbal Research Foundation in Kerala where the drug was developed, other medical colleges in Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Telangana and Delhi have also been approached.
This is the first known ayurvedic approach to cure COVID-19.
The drug developed by Pankajakasthuri, will now be tested as potential medicine for COVID-19 in medical college across the country.
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