The company had recently launched an ayurvedic medicine, named Coronil, claiming that it cures coronavirus.
The Uttarakhand government is set to issue a notice to yoga guru Ramdev’s Patanjali for launching a drug claiming to be a remedy for Covid-19 despite applying a licence for an immunity booster against cough and fever.
Uttarakhand Ayurveda Department’s licence officer Y S Rawat said a notice is being issued to the firm demanding an explanation about the launch of ‘corona kit’. There is still no proven cure for Covid-19.
“Patanjali Ayurveda Ltd had the licence only for manufacturing an immunity booster against cough and fever. There was nothing in their application related to the treatment of coronavirus,” Rawat said in a statement.
“We did receive an application from Patanjali on June 10. The application was approved after examination by a panel on June 12 but the firm had the permission to manufacture only two-three drugs as immunity booster against cough and fever, and not a drug for coronavirus,” he said.
Patanjali Ayurved Ltd on Tuesday launched what they claimed was the first Ayurvedic medicine to cure Covid-19. At the launch in Haridwar, Ramdev claimed that ‘Coronil tablet’, ‘Swasari Vati’ and ‘Anu Taila’ had shown “100 per cent favourable results” during clinical trials on Covid-19 patients.
However, the AYUSH Ministry has sought details about the medicine and has directed Patanjali and Ramdev to stop advertising such claims.
The notice will be sent to the firm under Rule 170 of the Drugs and Cosmetics Act, 1940, which makes it compulsory for companies to advertise any product in print and electronic media only with the permission from the state licensing authority, Rawat said. It was also not legal to claim that the product was a cure for coronavirus without prior permission of the department, the official said.
The development comes a day after the Ayush ministry requested the Uttarakhand State Licensing Authority to provide copies of the license and product approval details of the Ayurvedic medicines.
The Ministry statement says that Patanjali Ayurved Ltd has been asked to provide at the earliest the details of the name and composition of the medicines being claimed will treat Covid-19; the site(s)/hospital(s) where the research study was conducted; protocol, sample size, Institutional Ethics Committee clearance, CTRI registration and results data of the study(ies) and to stop advertising/publicising such claims till the issue is duly examined.