Dabur inks pact with government to produce malaria, diabetes drugs

New Delhi, Feb 24: Home grown FMCG firm Dabur has signed a license pact with the government to produce two new ayurvedic drugs - Ayush-64 for treatment of malaria and Ayush-82 for management of diabetes.

The company is planning to commercially produce the two drugs within six months and will be available in various formats, Dabur said in a statement.

It has also signed an MoU with the Central Council of Research in Ayurvedic Sciences (CCRAS), an apex research body under the Ministry of AYUSH, for collaboration and cooperation in pharmaceutical R&D for different novel dosage forms and drug development in ayurveda.

The ayurvedic formulations for both medicines were developed by CCRAS. "After successful completion of the project on a specific product, Dabur will market the same with its strong distribution network in India. Dabur may also market some of the already developed products by CCRAS," Dabur India Head Healthcare Research J L N Sastry said.

The company has now signed a comprehensive MoU with CCRAS to cooperate with each other in the field of Ayurvedic Research and Development, he added. Ayush-64 is highly effective for the treatment of malaria.

In view of its wide prevalence and drug-resistant malarial parasite, a poly-herbal non-toxic drug has been developed by CCRAS after carrying out extensive pharmacological, toxicological and clinical studies.

Ayush-82, an anti-diabetic drug also developed by CCRAS is a combination of known and tested hypoglycemic drugs. Its clinical studies have been done extensively.

Use of these drugs would help millions of people suffering from malaria and diabetes, CCRAS said.

CCRAS and Dabur will explore the feasibility and possibility of collaboration in diverse areas of R&D relating to ayurvedic medicines.

PTI