CSIR hopeful to get permission today from DCGI to test herb on humans for combating COVID-19

The Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) is exploring a native herb as a biological medicine or "phytopharmaceutical ", which is already being tested as medicine for dengue, for its efficacy to combat COVID-19.

By Suchitra Mukherjee The Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) is exploring a native herb as a biological medicine or "phytopharmaceutical ", which is already being tested as medicine for dengue, for its efficacy to combat COVID-19.

CSIR is hopeful that they will get approval from Drug Controller General of India (DGCI) to conduct a clinical trial on humans of the herb, which is used as native medicine in the country. DG CSIR Shekhar Mande had earlier said, "We have approached DCGI for phytopharmaceuticals (biological medicine) to do a clinical trial."

Phytopharmaceutical are essentially herbal medicines extracted from plants. It is a cocktail of different compounds but derived from a biological origin such as a plant. In the United States, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) terms it botanical, however, in India the DCGI calls them phytopharmaceuticals. In May 2016, a renowned pharmaceutical company and International Centre for Genetic engineering and Biotechnology (ICGEB), Delhi, had signed an agreement to develop a botanical drug for treatment against dengue.

"We are already testing the efficacy of this medicine against dengue and it is in the advanced stage in phase-II human trials. The mechanisms of treatment are similar." Mande said. "We are hopeful that today will get approval for this drug and after getting approval will start clinical trials," he added. (ANI)