AYUSH Committee, PHD Chamber organized a Webinar on ‘Issues and challenges in Quality Standards of ASU Sector’ held on 25^th November 2021. The webinar was graced with the presence of Chief Guest Dr. Anand Gudivada, Advisor, Ministry of AYUSH, Govt. of India and Padma Bhushan Vd. DevenderaTriguna, Patron of AMAM, President of All India Ayurvedic Congress and Ayurveda Mahasammelan.

 The other eminent dignitaries present were Mr. Pradeep Multani, President, PHD Chamber, Dr. Rajiv Rai, Chair, AYUSH Committee & Head Research, Dabur India Limited, Dr. Vijendra Prakash, General Manager, Regulatory, Corporate Affairs, Himalaya Drug Company and Dr. Vikas Punetha, Manager Regulatory Affairs, Amway India Enterprises Private Limited.

 While welcoming all the dignitaries, Mr. Pradeep Multani mentioned that AYUSH industry represents one of the oldest traditional forms of medicine in India, it has not been able to exploit the opportunities of the emerging market. The herbal medicines as such are not defined under drugs regulations, ASU products made from plant materials and other natural ingredients are regulated through exclusive quality control provisions.

 Padma Bhushan Vaidya DevenderaTriguna ji thanked Ministry of AYUSH, Govt. of India for their continuous efforts in promoting and taking the entire system globally ahead. He further mentioned about the Industry challenges and rising demand for ASU medicine in India.

 Dr. Anand Gudivada, Advisor, Ministry of AYUSH, Govt. of India said that, it is time to being the quality control standards from other countries into the Indian AYUSH sector and with strong and efficient licensing framework that ensures regularities. He mentioned that several steps have been taken in India to promote ASU medicine and to integrate them into clinical practice.

 Dr. Vijendra Prakash mentioned that, AYUSH industry can revisit on conduct of stability studies for licensing purpose for APMs. Moreover, license maybe issued with the condition that products can released into market post submission of Accelerated stability studies. This shall help parallel activities such as artwork, technology transfer, material procurement and commercialization.

 Dr. Vikas Punetha explained about the are two categories across which strict quality assessment measures are needed for best production quality standards, that are Internal and External factors respectively. Therefore a check on the complexity and non-uniformity of ingredients is a must. The external factors such as contamination, adulteration, misidentification, etc. are also too assessed.

 Dr. Rajiv Rai highlighted about elaborative details pertaining ayurvedic medicine and their sources of raw materials, their substitutes, shelf lives, quality check, etc. Coming to the more contemporary context, it is crucial for the pharmaceutical companies and manufacturers to provide their inputs in aspects of raw materials as well as quality standard parameters.

 The session was moderated by Mr. Vivek Seigell, Assistant Secretary General, PHDCCI and witnessed the participation of more than industry members from the AYUSH sector. The webinar was sponsored by Association of Manufacturers of Ayurvedic Medicine (AMAM) and AYUSH herbs private limited.

PHDCCI’s webinar was supported by Annual Sponsors such as, Multani Pharmaceuticals Limited; P G Industry; Uflex Ltd; DLF Limited; Continental Carriers Pvt Ltd; Belair Travel & Cargo Pvt Ltd; Radico Khaitan Limited, Paramount Communications; Superior Industries Limited; JK Tyre & Industries Ltd; Comtech Interio; R E Rogers; Apeejay Stya Group; EaseMyTrip; Blossom Kochhar Beauty Products Pvt Ltd; MV Cotspin Ltd; Synergy Environics Ltd; Ajit Industries Pvt Ltd; P S BEDI & Co.; Indian Farmer & Fertilizers Corporation Ltd; Jindal Steel; Hindware Sanitary; Modern Automobiles.