Patanjali’s pack of Ayurvedic medicines—Swasari Vati, Coronil tablet and Anu Taila has been priced at Rs 545. (Photo source: Twitter/PypAyurved)

The launch of Coronil, Yoga guru Ramdev’s Patanjali Ayurved’s medicine for the treatment of coronavirus, raised many eyebrows. Soon after its launch, in which Ramdev claimed “first ayurvedic medicine for covid-19” and “100% cure from coronavirus”, it attracted several questions, including for authenticity and about the company’s business practices.

According to Ramdev, Coronil is the first ayurvedic medicine in the world for covid-19 and he claimed “100% recovery within seven days from covid-19.” At a press conference in Haridwar, while launching the medicine, he said, Coronil is not just an immunity booster but a “coronavirus cure.”

Patanjali’s pack of Ayurvedic medicines—Swasari Vati, Coronil tablet and Anu Taila has been priced at Rs 545.

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The ministry of Ayush asked the company to stop advertising and publicising such claims until the issue is duly examined within hours of Coronil’s launch. The ministry has asked Patanjali Ayurved to provide at the earliest “details of the name and composition of the medicines being claimed for covid treatment”; and name of the site and hospital, where the research study was conducted for Covid-19; and the protocol, sample size, Institutional Ethics Committee clearance, CTRI registration and results data of the study. Later, in a tweet Acharya Balkrishan of patanjali claimed that they have submitted the same to the concerned authoriy.

On Wednesday, the Uttarakhand government also said it hasn’t given any approval to Patanjali Ayurved for coronavirus drugs, while the Rajasthan government said it has “no knowledge of clinical trials at National Institute of Medical Sciences and Research”, a private hospital in Jaipur which has permission to treat coronavirus patients.

According to the practice now in India for coronavirus, during the trials, if a patient develops a fever, he/she administered with allopathic medicines. And trials are being conducted on asymptomatic and mildly symptomatic patients; symptomatic patients and patients with acute respiratory distress syndrome are not allowed for enrolment.

Dr Ganpat Devpura, Principal Investigator, NIMS, Jaipur, said “moreover, the study based on these trials at NIMS, are not peer-reviewed,” as reported by The Indian Express.

He said, “this is just an interim report” with a sample size of 100 coronavirus patients. “The final report and the findings will be published after 15-25 days and then it will be sent for peer review,” Devpura said.

Patanjali managing director Acharya Balkrishna, however, said the company has submitted all the documents to the ministry and the “communication gap has been resolved” and claimed the controversy was “finally” resolved.

But, the Uttarakhand government’s notice and the Rajasthan government’s refusal that any approval was granted for conducting the clinical trials, hint at some trouble for Patanjali Ayurved.