The recent covid-19 pandemic has put emphasis on body’s immune system in fighting, the virus. In this scenario, India’s age old traditional medicines like Ayurveda has come to the limelight as a unique way to enhance the ability of human body to ward off the diseases. This has opened new avenues for the Indian traditional medicinal system.
According to Barnik Chitran Maitra, the Managing Partner and Chief Executive of Arthur D Little-India (ADL) and South Asia, the firm has shown interest in Indian traditional medicinal system, and wants to put it on the world-map. This move involves creating an open-source repository of existing knowledge that will be accessible to universities for geo-tagging, supporting with evidence-based data, and consolidating research and development efforts with disruptive technologies.
ADL has made alliance with BEGIN India Think Tank and HumanSTAR to make India a global powerhouse for the practice of Ayurveda. Discussions with industry stakeholders began due to India’s push for AYUSH (Ayurveda, Yoga, Unani, Siddha, and Homeopathy), which paved the way for taking Ayurveda from wellness into a curative space. In this respect, the patenting and geo-tagging of Ayurveda products to scrutiny will not create any barriers; rather any such scrutiny will only add to their credibility. Though the initiative will have certain documentation challenges, involving many ingredients that are part of making an Ayurveda product, a nuanced approach will help to tackle the challenge.
Charter of International Ayurveda Alliance
The charter of International Ayurveda Alliance envisages a clinically measurable evidence-based system to position Indian Ayurveda as a reliable medical alternative as per modern science. However, the major concern is to agree on the detailed scientific evidence-based framework for Ayurveda and launch of a few data pilots/trials. The alliance has also initiated discussions with two state governments on Ayurveda parks for integrated manufacturing, export zones, and Ayurveda tourism circuits, and with the central government for the international branding of Indian Ayurveda.
Evolution of Modern Ayurveda
Ayurveda has survived millennia due to its effectiveness. What was once consumed as mixtures of herbs, roots, and fruits—fresh or dried—after grinding them together in stone mortar-and-pestles, has evolved as tablets, capsules, and bottled liquids now. Moreover, it is evolving into more contemporary forms like chewable gummies, powders, shakes, and out-of-bottle drinks to stay appealing to the present generation, which is undergoing times of turbulence and seeking holistic well-being.
Now-a-days, Ayurvedic products are being sold in forms that can be easily consumed, and carried around, besides testing better. Simple and informative labelling helps consumers make more informed choices, while packaging makes them attractive.
Commercial Revival
In spite of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, Ayurveda itself has been thriving over the past years. As per ResearchAndMarkets.com, the Ayurveda market in India was valued at ` 300 billion in 2018, which is expected to reach ` 710.87 billion by 2024, with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of about 16.06 per cent.
In one of its reports, namely, Ayurveda Market in India 2019, ADA says that one of the key factors behind this growth is the increasing awareness among people regarding maintenance of a healthy lifestyle. They prefer food products like herbal tea, oats, corn flakes, biscuits, cookies, spices, jam, and almond oil that are made of natural ingredients. There is a shift of preference due to increased awareness about the harmful effects of chemicals on health, leading to the growth of the market.
As per the report, Baidyanath, Dabur, and Emami together account for about 85 per cent of the country’s Ayurveda market. Rest of the industry players are also doing good. For instance, Auric sells about 1,50,000 units every month, with sales doubling after the outbreak. It has the US FDA licence as well as the UK licence. Upakarma Ayurveda has seen 100 per cent year-on-year growth in the three years since its launch and saw an increase of about 35–40 per cent after the outbreak. Similarly, Kapiva Ayurveda grew 300 per cent between 2018–19 and 2019–20.
The pandemic helped the business grow at a much faster rate. As per Sharma of Kapiva, the growth that would take about 18 months earlier, came within six months only. The level of consumer awareness went up, leading to very high repeat purchases.
Upakarma, currently valued at ` 70 crore, is going to expand at two levels—geographic and product—and is going to market its products in the US, the UK, and UAE.
The recent developments have enabled new-era practices, such as reverse pharmacology, concomitant meta-research and clinical analyses, combined with policy advocacy and thought leadership, to take the Indian Ayurveda to a prominent place in the global health systems.
Arthur D Little, set up in 1886, is quite known to Indian healthcare industry as they were first invited in post-independence India in 1947 to relook at the governance architecture of India since the new Constitution was being put in place. ADL has closely worked with global pharmaceutical companies, enabling new age approaches, clinical trials, targeted drug discovery, etc. However, ADL’s work on Ayurveda is for public good (pro-bono), not mandated by anyone. The company has worked in Northern Asia, Korea, Japan, China, Chile, and some European countries on healthcare systems. All countries have regulatory requirements and ‘do no harm’ approach. ADL was founded in the MIT campus by a professor.