Stop advertising 'Coronil' as COVID cure; prove claims scientifically first: Govt tells Patanjali

New Delhi, June 23: Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) and AYUSH Ministry have denied to vouch for Patanjali's cure for coronavirus Coronil.

Ministry of AYUSH on Tuesday said it has taken cognizance of the news floating in media about Ayurvedic medicines developed for treatment of Covid-19 by Patanjali Ayurved Ltd.

However, facts of the claim and details of the stated scientific study are not known to the Ministry and complete details of the supposed medicines have been sought, it said in a statement.

Patanjali has been asked by AYUSH Ministry to not advertise/publicise these claims until they have been fully examined.

"Patanjali Ayurved Ltd has been asked to provide at the earliest details of the name and composition of the medicines being claimed for COVID treatment; site(s)/hospital(s), where the research study was conducted for COVID-19; protocol, sample size, Institutional Ethics Committee clearance, CTRI registration and results data of the study (ies) and stop advertising/publicizing such claims till the issue is duly examined," the ministry further said.

The ministry has also requested concerned State Licensing Authority of Uttrakhand Government to provide copies of license and product approval details of the Ayurvedic medicines being claimed for the treatment of Covid-19.

Yoga guru Ramdev's herbal medicine company Patanjali Ayurved on Tuesday claimed to have discovered cure for coronavirus but no medical authority could immediately vouch for the claim of 'Coronil and Swasari' medicine curing the highly contagious disease within seven days.

The firm claimed that the two Ayurved-based medicines have shown 100 per cent favourable results during clinical trials on COVID-19 infected patients except those on a life support system.

Sidestepping questions on the drug being approved by government agencies such as ICMR, Ramdev said clinical controlled study of these medicines was done in several cities including Delhi, Ahmedabad and Meerut and the RCT (Randomized Clinical Trial) controlled with placebo was conducted at Jaipur-based National Institute of Medical Sciences & Research.

Both the Ministry of Ayush and the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) have reportedly refused to comment on the claim citing lack of knowledge of the issue.