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Holy Cow biproduct bags US patent!
*Thought this article would raise some eye brows like mine.....makes me wanna think twice before i fall ill....specially in India* :(
Indian scientists have bagged a US patent for a desi drug formulation composed of cow urine distillate and an antibiotic. The research was carried out by the Central Institute of Medicinal and Aromatic Plants (CIMAP), the Lucknow-based laboratory of the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) and Nagpur?s Go-Vigyan Anusandhana Kendra.
R A Mashelkar, director-general, CSIR, explains to Narayani Ganesh the import of this scientific achievement. He advocates the fusion of traditional knowledge with modern science:
In Indian tradition, cow urine or go-mutra is believed to have therapeutic properties. Is this belief being sanctified by scientific bodies like the CSIR?
We?re not talking about cow urine per se. The patent has been granted to a particular drug composition that also contains cow urine distillate. The distillate, when used in certain drugs, enhances the effectiveness of the drugs. Indeed, ancient Indian texts have recorded the use of go-mutra for therapeutic purposes. However, it had never been subject to scientific scrutiny.
The go-mutra distillate is already being sold across the counter as Kamadhenu Ark. The patent, however, is for a pharmaceutical composition comprising an antibiotic and cow urine distillate in an amount effective to enhance antimicrobial effect of the said antibiotic. Getting a patent is only the first step. It takes 10-12 years and approximately 500-600 million dollars to put a new drug into the market. It makes more sense to increase the efficacy of existing drugs with bioenhancers.
What would the cow urine distillate discovery mean to the patient?
The distillate is a bioenhancer. Bioenhancers are substances, which when mixed with a drug, enhance the effectiveness of the drug without taking away its properties. First, medication for the patient will cost less because the dosage will be reduced. Indiscriminate use of antibiotics leads to antibiotic resistance, which is a great cause for concern. With bioenhancers, dosages are reduced and the dangers of drug-resistance are minimised.
Second, toxicity of the drug will be minimised because of the reduced dosage. This is especially true of anti-cancer drugs like Taxol, which have unpleasant side-effects. Very often, a large proportion of drugs used in chemotherapy fail to reach the target site. With less dosage, you get the same effects or with the same dosage, you can kill more cancer cells.
There are ecological/environmental benefits, too. Taxol, used to treat ovarian and breast cancer, is derived from the bark of the Pacific Yew tree, one of the slowest growing trees in the world. At present, to treat one patient, six trees, 25-100 years old, have to be felled. With bioenhancers like cow urine distillate, fewer trees will be destroyed.
Would cow urine distillate from cows of different breeds possess these bioenhancing properties? How would their diet affect the distillate?s properties?
The distillate in question has been extracted from cow urine from same-breed cows reared in Nagpur, tended under close supervision, fed on a uniform diet. Investigations are still going on to check reproduceability, stability (shelf-life) and standardisation.
Have Indian scientists found other bioenhancers, apart from cow urine distillate?
India is the global leader in developing bioenhancers derived from natural products. Bioenhancers are drug facilitators ? they are molecules which by themselves do not show a typical drug activity, but when used in combination, enhance the activity of the drug molecule in various ways: increasing the bioavailability of the drug across the membrane; potentiating the drug molecule by conformational interaction; acting as receptor for the drug molecule; making the target cells more receptive to the drug and so on.
The Regional Research Institute at Jammu explored the ayurvedic concept of trikuta or three substances, one of which is black pepper. They found the chemical pepperine, which has bioenhancing properties. Adding this to anti-TB and leprosy drugs has been found to enhance their effectiveness. In fact, use of pepperine in anti-TB drugs has shown that the dosage can be halved.
Is pepperine as bioenhancer patented? Is it available commercially?
It?s patented. The pharmaceutical composition containing pepperine has to go through the same testing as a normal drug. We?ve successfully conducted Phase I, II and III clinical trials. We now need to do Phase III-B trials since the regimen for tubercular drugs has been revised by WHO from one to two days. The trials will be complete within a year.
You once said India would emerge as the world?s No. 1 herbal power. Has the CSIR initiated projects to help realise this goal?
As part of CSIR?s larger mandate to bring about synergy between traditional knowledge and modern science, 19 of CSIR?s 38 laboratories have been networked to find bioactives from natural plant products. A bioactive acts on its own whereas a bioenhancer needs to be used with a drug formulation. Asmon is a polyherbal formulation for the treatment of asthma. Asmon helps reduce dependence on steroids and inhalers; it can even be taken as a standalone medicine. It has been hugely successful in the market.
Indian scientists have bagged a US patent for a desi drug formulation composed of cow urine distillate and an antibiotic. The research was carried out by the Central Institute of Medicinal and Aromatic Plants (CIMAP), the Lucknow-based laboratory of the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) and Nagpur?s Go-Vigyan Anusandhana Kendra.
R A Mashelkar, director-general, CSIR, explains to Narayani Ganesh the import of this scientific achievement. He advocates the fusion of traditional knowledge with modern science:
In Indian tradition, cow urine or go-mutra is believed to have therapeutic properties. Is this belief being sanctified by scientific bodies like the CSIR?
We?re not talking about cow urine per se. The patent has been granted to a particular drug composition that also contains cow urine distillate. The distillate, when used in certain drugs, enhances the effectiveness of the drugs. Indeed, ancient Indian texts have recorded the use of go-mutra for therapeutic purposes. However, it had never been subject to scientific scrutiny.
The go-mutra distillate is already being sold across the counter as Kamadhenu Ark. The patent, however, is for a pharmaceutical composition comprising an antibiotic and cow urine distillate in an amount effective to enhance antimicrobial effect of the said antibiotic. Getting a patent is only the first step. It takes 10-12 years and approximately 500-600 million dollars to put a new drug into the market. It makes more sense to increase the efficacy of existing drugs with bioenhancers.
What would the cow urine distillate discovery mean to the patient?
The distillate is a bioenhancer. Bioenhancers are substances, which when mixed with a drug, enhance the effectiveness of the drug without taking away its properties. First, medication for the patient will cost less because the dosage will be reduced. Indiscriminate use of antibiotics leads to antibiotic resistance, which is a great cause for concern. With bioenhancers, dosages are reduced and the dangers of drug-resistance are minimised.
Second, toxicity of the drug will be minimised because of the reduced dosage. This is especially true of anti-cancer drugs like Taxol, which have unpleasant side-effects. Very often, a large proportion of drugs used in chemotherapy fail to reach the target site. With less dosage, you get the same effects or with the same dosage, you can kill more cancer cells.
There are ecological/environmental benefits, too. Taxol, used to treat ovarian and breast cancer, is derived from the bark of the Pacific Yew tree, one of the slowest growing trees in the world. At present, to treat one patient, six trees, 25-100 years old, have to be felled. With bioenhancers like cow urine distillate, fewer trees will be destroyed.
Would cow urine distillate from cows of different breeds possess these bioenhancing properties? How would their diet affect the distillate?s properties?
The distillate in question has been extracted from cow urine from same-breed cows reared in Nagpur, tended under close supervision, fed on a uniform diet. Investigations are still going on to check reproduceability, stability (shelf-life) and standardisation.
Have Indian scientists found other bioenhancers, apart from cow urine distillate?
India is the global leader in developing bioenhancers derived from natural products. Bioenhancers are drug facilitators ? they are molecules which by themselves do not show a typical drug activity, but when used in combination, enhance the activity of the drug molecule in various ways: increasing the bioavailability of the drug across the membrane; potentiating the drug molecule by conformational interaction; acting as receptor for the drug molecule; making the target cells more receptive to the drug and so on.
The Regional Research Institute at Jammu explored the ayurvedic concept of trikuta or three substances, one of which is black pepper. They found the chemical pepperine, which has bioenhancing properties. Adding this to anti-TB and leprosy drugs has been found to enhance their effectiveness. In fact, use of pepperine in anti-TB drugs has shown that the dosage can be halved.
Is pepperine as bioenhancer patented? Is it available commercially?
It?s patented. The pharmaceutical composition containing pepperine has to go through the same testing as a normal drug. We?ve successfully conducted Phase I, II and III clinical trials. We now need to do Phase III-B trials since the regimen for tubercular drugs has been revised by WHO from one to two days. The trials will be complete within a year.
You once said India would emerge as the world?s No. 1 herbal power. Has the CSIR initiated projects to help realise this goal?
As part of CSIR?s larger mandate to bring about synergy between traditional knowledge and modern science, 19 of CSIR?s 38 laboratories have been networked to find bioactives from natural plant products. A bioactive acts on its own whereas a bioenhancer needs to be used with a drug formulation. Asmon is a polyherbal formulation for the treatment of asthma. Asmon helps reduce dependence on steroids and inhalers; it can even be taken as a standalone medicine. It has been hugely successful in the market.
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