Patanjali finds coronavirus cure in Ayurveda; claims 100% favourable result

We are not talking about an immunity booster. We are talking about a cure," said Acharya Balkrishna, managing director of Patanjali.

Acharya Balkrishna, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Patanjali has claimed that an Ayurvedic medicine developed by the company has been able to cure Covid-19 patients within 5-14 days.

"We appointed a team of scientists after Covid-19 outbreak. Firstly, the simulation was done and compounds were identified which can fight the virus and stop its spread in the body. Then, we conducted a clinical case study on hundreds of positive patients and we have got 100 per cent favourable results," Balkrishna said.

"We are not talking about an immunity booster. We are talking about a cure," said Acharya Balkrishna, managing director of Patanjali.

The clinical trials were conducted in Indore and in Jaipur after Patanjali secured permission last week.

"After taking our medicine, Covid patients recovered in 5-14 days and then tested negative. So, we can say the cure for Covid is possible through Ayurveda. We are performing controlled clinical trials only. In the next few days, evidence and data will be released by us," he added.

The Patanjali CEO further said that people should practice Yoga, and keep oneself healthy through proper diet to boost the immune system..

Coronavirus treatment update

So far, there is no vaccine or cure for the novel coronavirus. Patanjali's decision to diversify into the hunt for a cure for the deadly pandemic is unusual for because the rush to develop treatments for Covid-19 has so far been led by large pharmaceutical companies such as Gilead Sciences, Pfizer, Johnson & Johnson, Moderna, Inovio Pharmaceutcials and GlaxoSmithKline, among others.

Covid-19: Pune-based drug firm to export favipiravir to 18 countries

Favipiravir is under trial in many countries as a potential treatment for Covid-19.

Pune-based pharmaceutical marketing company Brinton Pharmaceuticals is gearing up to export anti-viral drug favipiravir to 18 countries and awaiting approval from the Indian drug controller to launch the drug in India. Favipiravir is under trial in many countries as a potential treatment for Covid-19, and in India, Glenmark Pharmaceuticals is conducting the trials that have entered phase 3.

After the trials are over in India, the Drug Controller General of India (DCGI) is likely to give the nod to market the drug here which was originally developed by Japan's Fujifilm Toyama Chemical Co Ltd, a subsidiary of Fujifilm Corporation. The drug is not yet part of the treatment protocol for Covid-19 here, but sources claim that it is on the list of the most promising drugs for treating the new coronavirus by the task force here.

Speaking to Business Standard, Rahul Kumar Darda, chairman and managing director of Brinton Pharma said that Hyderabad-based Optimus Pharma is making the drug for them. "Fujifilm is supplying the intermediate of the drug to Optimus, which is making the active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) for the drug. They will also supply the formulation to us, which we will export to countries like Nepal, Cambodia, Vietnam, Canada, Caribbean etc," Darda said.

Brinton has a stock of about 100,000 tablets ready to export.

As for the pricing, Darda said that for countries like Nepal the drug is being priced around Rs 2,500 per strip of ten tablets. A patient would need a course of 14-days or roughly around 20 tablets or so, making the cost of therapy Rs 5,000. "When the drug gets launched in India eventually, the prices are expected to be lower," Darda said.

Favipiravir sells under the brand name Avigan and is an approved medication to treat influenza. Brinton will market the drug under the brand Faviton and it will be available in 200 mg and 400 mg tablets.

As Bengaluru battles COVID-19, tech platforms come handy for IT workforce

The city has so far reported four positive coronavirus cases.

With the coronavirus reaching tech parks, campuses of multinational companies and even schools and colleges in Bengaluru, the IT city is gearing up to shoot the trouble with the help of technology. The city has so far reported four positive coronavirus cases.

As more employees opt for work from home in this time of crisis, start-ups are launching a suite of products to support collaboration and communication among workers. Ozonetel, a city-based start-up, for example, has rolled out a cloud-based solution for call centre companies to switch to work-from-home, in order to contain the spread of the virus. Using the solution, a company can route calls to mobile phones or even landlines, instead of them taking calls via desktop.

Human resource management software start-up Kredily has started providing its attendance management app for free to companies. Unlike a contact-based biometric system, the web-based authentication system rules out the possibility of spreading the virus through human contact, said the company.

“This restricts attendance to a specific location and comes in handy for companies where work-from-home is not being practised,” said Devendra Khandegar, founder & CEO of the start-up.

Chennai-based company Zoho which has clients such as Ola, MedLife and OnePlus in Bengaluru, has decided to offer its newly-launched remote work toolkit ‘Remotely’ for free to everyone. Remotely includes 10 applications that create a comprehensive communication system including virtual meetings, showtime for conferences, and online file management. “Our CEO (Sridhar Vembu) has been working from a remote farm in Tenkasi, a village in Tamil Nadu, and encouraging employees to go back to their home towns if they have internet connectivity,” said the company.

Coronavirus pain for Chinese mobile handset makers may be Samsung's gain

With manufacturing suspended in China and supply of key components and handset models in jeopardy, Chinese firms are feeling the heat.

As China reels from the coronavirus epidemic, Korean mobile phone maker Samsung seems to be recovering some of the lost ground.

While the outbreak has forced most leading brands like Apple, Xiaomi, Oppo, Vivo, and Realme to rework their launch dates and pricing strategies, Samsung, which struggled to maintain its hold over the market last year, has taken the lead.

The data from the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) shows that the local unit of the Korean major has lined up nine new handset models for launch in early 2020. Among major brands, only Redmi (from Xiaomi) and LG have registered two models each since January 1 with the national standards body, followed by Motorola and Coolpad (one each).

Delhi-based local brand Cellecor, which has a presence in the entry-level segment, tops the chart with 15 models registered since January 1. Hitech, another Indian brand, holds the third spot with eight models registered over this period.

According to Faisal Kawoosa, lead analyst at TechArc, the trend clearly indicates that “major OEMs (original equipment manufacturers) are delaying their launches. Typically, after the BIS registration, models are launched in 4-6 weeks”.

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He said, “As of now it gives advantage to Samsung among major OEMs as it can procure from Korea and other countries, resulting in low impact on its supply chain.”

With manufacturing suspended in China and supply of key components and handset models in jeopardy, Chinese firms are feeling the heat. Though many of them have set up facilities in India, they continue to depend heavily on supplies from China.