"A wild plant an effective cure for Glaucoma"

New Delhi, Sep 18 (UNI) A wild plant has been clinically proved to be an effective cure for glaucoma, the third leading cause of blindness in India, and a drug based on it will be in the market within three months.

The drug, claimed to be the first from natural sources, has been accorded approval by the Drug Controller General of India.

An NRI-owned Health Science Company with a turnover of 110 million US dollars ,which developed the drug in its Bangalore-based Sami Labs, can now manufacture and market ''Forskohlin Ophthalmic Solution'' under the brand name ''Ocufors.'' This discovery and approval will have far-reaching consequences for the Indian pharmaceutical sector as this is the first time that a molecule has been discovered from all natural sources, a first of its kind in the world, has been accorded this status, Sami Labs Chairman and Managing Director Muhammed Majeed told UNI here today.

He said Forskohlin is an extract prepared from the herb ''Coleus Forskohlii,'' a member of the mint family of plants that grows wild in some parts of India. In some areas people grow it and use it to make pickle.

He said his company had got a US patent for the preparation of Forskohlin from Coleus Forskohlii.

Dr Majeed, a US based Indian scientist, said he has been cultivating the plant in more than 10,000 acres of land in Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra. ''The plants are ready for use and the manufacturing of the drug would start in our facility at Bangalore within the next three months.'' He said the drug had undergone all mandatory studies and clinical research at six different locations in India, results of which have been found to be very positive.

In this context, Dr Majeed pointed out that the studies by his team of scientists was in continuation of the research that pharma major Hoechst had undertaken in the eighties. ''Hoechst had identified the efficacy of Forskohlin in the treatment of Glaucoma but they could not make an effective formulation and subsequently dropped the studies midway through.'' MORE UNI SH PDM BS1401