Zandu Pharmaceutical Works, the Mumbai-based ayurvedic drug manufacturing company, has six more products in the pipeline, as promising as HP-200, its anti-Parkinson drug.  The company has generated extensive data on pharmacology, phytochemistry and standardisation for all six products.

The products fall into therapeutic areas of analgesics, pain management, and gastroenterology.

However, Zandu is planning a slightly different approach for these products in overseas markets. Though the company plans to carry extensive clinical trials for all six products, it will position them as health products instead of prescription-based drugs.

Health products are a new concept evolving in the US and Western European countries. They are placed in between prescription medicines and nutraceuticals or other over-the-counter products.

Dr Ashok Vaidya, director, Zandu, says health products, unlike nutraceuticals, can be prescribed by doctors and at the same time can be categorised as OTC products. Unlike nutraceuticals, the products are backed by clinical evidence and offer specific claims.

For the present, Zandu's efforts are directed towards HP-200, a drug for Parkinson's disease. Zandu has obtained an investigational new drug approval from the US Food and Drug Administration. CMI India Pvt Ltd will carry out clinical development of HP-200.

It is too early to say whether CMI India will be interested in collaborating on any other projects with Zandu besides HP-200, says Dr Vaidya.

Zandu is strengthening its research facility. The first step will be to expand the existing research centre at its Mumbai facility to 15,000 square metres. The company will expand it further to 45,000 square metres in three years.

It is not clear whether the company intends to expand its research activities by commissioning a new facility or by expanding its existing facility at Mumbai. If it opts for expanding research in Mumbai, it may move its manufacturing operations out of the city.

The Mumbai facility conducts research in pharmacology, phytochemistry, and formulation development. Cultivation of medicinal plants by tissue culture is done at Ambach in Gujarat.

The company runs six manufacturing units in the country, including the one in Mumbai. Manufacture of herbal extracts and asav is done in Vapi, and Zandu Balm in Sanjan, both in Gujarat. Besides, the company has units in Unnao in Uttar Pradesh, and Dongri and Masat in Gujarat.

Zandu, which has been in business for over a century, was named after a famous 18th century philanthropist and ayurvedic physician from Jamnagar, Gujarat, who was popularly known as Zandu. In 1864, he set up a rasa shala to manufacture products for his personal practice according to the ancient traditional system of medicine, ayurveda. These included daily dietary regimens, austere behaviour, adaptation to seasonal changes, yogic exercises, and other nutraceutical aids designed to promote health and to delay ageing.

His grandson Jugatram Vaidya, also a physician, decided to start a pharmacy to manufacture and market Zandu's ayurvedic products. In this venture, he got the assistance of the late Pattani, prime minister of the erstwhile state of Bhavnagar, and Mathuradas Parikh to establish the Zandu factory in Mumbai in 1910.

Today, the company produces over 300 products using 200 medicinal plants and their extracts. Some of its popular products are Livotrit, Rhumasyl, Rhumayog, Pancharishta, Alpitone, Drakshasava, Kesri Jivan, Chyavanprash, and Zandu Balm.