While the rest of the world struggles to find a cure or vaccine to fight the novel coronavirus, Indian Ayurvedic brand Patanjali says that it has succeeded. On Tuesday the company launched its latest product, aptly named 'coronil', that is being touted as the "first and foremost evidence-based ayurvedic medicine for COVID-19".
Here is a quick summarisation of all we know about the new product:
1. As Baba Ramdev emphasised, it is not an immunity booster but a cure for the deadly virus.
2. While Patanjali says that it is the first ayurvedic medicine against the coronavirus, it is also the first medicine of its kind. While various drugs have shown differing levels of efficiency in treating the virus, there is no cure that has been announced before this.
3. Coronil is not the only COVID-19 medicine launched by Patanjali on Tuesday. It is part of a 'corona kit' that contain three separate bottles. Of these, Coronil is but one. As per photos of the kit, the other two are labelled as 'Swasari Vati' and 'Anu Taila'. These will help in boosting immunity.
4. There are more than 100 compounds used in making Coronil, the yoga guru said.
5. The entire kit costs Rs 600. Ramdev however said that it would be given for free to those living below the poverty line. Reportedly, the kit will soon become available at Patanjali stores.
6. Panajali says that "2-2 tablets should be consumed with hot water half an hour after meals". This quantity is suitable for those between the ages of 15 to 80. Half of the above mentioned dose should be taken by children between the age of 6 to 14 years.
7. Patanjali says that they have have conducted a clinical case study on 280 positive patients -- successfully curing everyone without any person dying. The controlled trials were jointly conducted by Patanjali Research Institute and the National Institute of Medical Sciences.
8. Patanjali said there had been 100% recovery amongst those who were administered the medicine. Ramdev even claimed that 69% of them recovered within 3 days.
9. Ramdev has said that in the next few days, data from the trial will be released as evidence to bolster claims.
10. While Ramdev had said that necessary approvals for conducting the trials of medicine on patients had been taken from competent authorities, it would seem that the authorities have not yet confirmed the effectiveness of the cure. As per a CNBC TV18 report, the Ayush Ministry has not commented on the topic while the Indian Council of Medical Research said that it did not have an idea about it.
