The Patanjali group, owned by yoga guru Baba Ramdev said it has launched clinical trials on humans to find a cure for COVID-19 after receiving regulatory approvals.
Acharya Balkrishna, managing director of Patanjali, was quoted in reports that ‘we are not talking about an immunity booster, we are talking about a cure’.
The clinical trials have begun in Indore and in Jaipur after Patanjali secured permission last week, reports added.
The decision to diversify into the hunt for a cure for the deadly pandemic is unusual for Patanjali because the rush to develop treatments for COVID-19 has so far been led by Big Pharma.
Large pharmaceutical companies such as Gilead Sciences, Pfizer, Johnson & Johnson, Moderna, Inovio Pharmaceutcials and GlaxoSmithKline, among others, are racing to find a successful vaccine.
Patanjali, co-founded by yoga guru and entrepreneur Baba Ramdev, runs a sprawling business empire and employs some 50,000 people.