AVP signs MoU with CCRAS for multi centric clinical trial on

Arya Vaidya Pharmacy here has signed an MoU with Central Council for Research In Aryurveda System (CCRAS) to conduct Phase III Multi centric clinical trial on rheumatoid arthritis in Bengaluru and Mumbai.

The union government has come forward to fund the first ever such trial on the efficacy of Ayurveda in managing rheumatoid arthritis and the study would be done by AVP Research Foundation in collaboration with CCRAS, Foundation Chairman P R Krishnakumar told reporters on Tuesday.

The study was based on a pilot study by AVP in 2003, the outcome of which was published in leading research journals like Annals of Rheumatic Diseases and Journal of Clinical Rheumatology, he said.

The Centre has come forward to take this study to the next level as part of positioning Ayurveda as a forefront medical system capable of handling various conditions, including auto-immune disorders, he said.

The agreement to pursue the study was signed between Krishnakumar and Dr Shashidhar Doddamani, representing CCRAS here recently, he said.

Ayurveda Research Institute for Metabolic Disorders, Bengaluru and Raja Ramdeo Anandilala Central Ayurveda Research Institute for Cancer, Mumbai, will be the clinical sites for the 36 week study on 200 people with fresh cases of the disease, he said.

Krishnakumar said the study was designed by world renowned rheumotologist Dr Daniel Furst, currently the Director of Clinical Research at Arthiritis Associtaion of South California, who would also mentor it.

The AVP Group has also initiated a clinical trial on the efficacy of Ayurveda on management of diabetes, he said.

The study will be executed in Lativa in collaboration with the University of Lativa and be the first of its kind, where efficacy of Ayurveda in the management of Diabetes population outside India, Krishnakumar said.