It is the kind of news that would make the AYUSH minister gush with pride. Earlier this week the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) launched the country’s first anti-diabetic ayurvedic drug, with a name that would make most users cringe “ BGR-34. It’s hardly a name. The drug is aimed at treating type 2 diabetes mellitus and was created by combining six ancient herbs with 500 others. It took
five years of research for scientists at CSIR to come up with the formula and the drug is now being offered as a combo to reduce dependence on Metformin, an allopathic formulation. The ayurvedic drug controls blood sugar minus the side effects, but the chances of it becoming a mainstream treatment
would depend entirely on how and when the allopathic world of medicine embraces it. A lot will depend on the efficacy of the drug and its ability to do what Merformin accomplishes. What does this really mean for six crore people in India who have to live with diabetes, since there is no cure for it? If BGR-34 turns out to be as effective as is being claimed by scientists at CSIR, then patients suffering for type 2 diabetes can look forward to a life with less side effects. India is the diabetes capital of the world and those who inherit it from their ancestors or acquire it on account of lifestyle changes are forced into a life of insulin injections and pills. Diabetes can be controlled with drugs, exercise and a proper diet, but in the long run patients suffering from it run the risk of blindness, kidney failure, heart attacks and stroke. In other words diabetes increases the risk of all other medical problems. So a new drug which effectively controls sugar levels without too many side effects is the need of the hour and six crore diabetes patients stand to gain if BGR-
34 turns out to be a winner.
CSIR needs to be congratulated for moving a drug from the
research stage to production and marketing in five years. Because
in the pharmaceutical field, the time for moving a drug
from the development stage to actual release could take up to
15 years and the entire process could cost anything between $
500 million to $ 1 billion.
Also the attrition rate is very high and only 21.5 per cent of
the drugs that are formulated make it to the release stage. Novel
initiatives have been made to forge partnerships between
governments and the pharma industry in order to cut the time
and cost for developing drugs and perhaps, ayurvedic formulations
might have a role to play in this process.
Despite the good work put in by CSIR, the block it is likely to
face is the isolationist attitude of the various streams of medicine.
It will take a lot of convincing for an ayurvedic drug to
gain acceptance in the allopathic world. Manufacturers of existing
diabetes drugs will move in to discredit BGR-34 and unless
CSIR put up a spirited and sustained fight this new drug
might be forgotten.
On the other hand, if it proves to be very effective it will be
difficult to discredit it. With people becoming more aware of
the limitations of allopathic drugs and the long term benefits
of Ayurveda, Homeopathy and Unani, and the central government
strongly supporting alternate forms of medicine, CSIR
has the impetus it needs.
