AAYUDH Advance Controversy

In April 2021, it was claimed that a drug called Aayudh Advance was effective against COVID-19. The trials for the drug were conducted at two government hospitals in Ahmedabad. However, Government of India has recently rejected the claims made by the manufacturers of the drug.

AAYUDH Advance

• The manufacturers of the drug claimed that the drug had positive effects against COVID-19. They also said that the patients who took AAYUDH Advance had seen reduction of infection of the virus to a great extent.
• The first human trial of the AAYUDH Advance drug was conducted in October 2020. The second trial was held in January 2021.

What is the controversy?

• The Ministry of Ayush announced that the claims made by AAYUDH Advance are misleading. With this, the Food and Drug Control Administration of Gujarat issued a show-cause notice to the AAYUDH Advance drug manufacturer. The manufacturing unit of the drug is based in Rajkot.
• The Shukla Ashar Private Limited, Rajkot referred the clinical study of its product, AAYUDH Advance, to the committees operating under concerned ministries. The committees have rejected the products as they do not follow the principles and study protocols of Ayurveda.
• According to the company, the product is a liquid formulation and is made of twenty-one different plant extracts.

Claims made by AAYUDH

• AAYUDH Advance of the first clinically tested medicine for COVID-19.
• The treatment of AAYUDH Advance is three times better than Remdesivir.

Background

The Ministry of AYUSH has provided separate guidelines for Practitioners of Ayurveda, Yoga, UNANI, Siddha, Homeopathy and Naturopathy in COVID-19. Every drug produced in the respective field to treat COVID-19 should abide by these guidelines.

Month: Current Affairs - April, 2021