Coimbatore : Arya Vaidya Pharmacy (AVP) here has signed an MoU with Central Council for Researh In Aryurveda System (CCRAS) to conduct Phase III Multi Centric Clinical Trial on Rheumatoid Arthritis.

The Government of India has come forward to fund the first ever Multi Centric Phase III Clinical Trial on the efficacy of Ayurveda in the management of Rheumatoid Arthritis and the study would be done by AVP Research Foundation in collaboration with CCRAS, the Foundation Chairman, P R Krishnakumar told reporters on Tuesday.

The study was based on the pilot study conducted 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.

Now, 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 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 of the study for 36 weeks, on 200 persons with fresh cases of the disease, he said.

Stating that this was one of the many initiatives of the Government to position India’s medical wealth for the benefit of the world, Krishnakumar said the study was designed by world renowned rheumotologist Dr Daniel Furst, currently the Director of Clinical Research at Arthiritis Associtaon of South California, who would be mentoring the study.

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 University of Lativa. and would be the first of its kind wherein efficacy of Ayurveda in the management of Diabetes population outside India, Krishnakumar said.