Ancient India was a land of wisdom and is said to be much advanced than the civilization today is. Ayurveda or the system of medicine is just one of many advanced practices that were prevalent. However, with time, these ancient teachings which were once lost, have now been rediscovered with the modern world now recognizing the power of alternative medicine.
Using this ancient wisdom to find a cure for the modern-day ailments, is Atrimed Biotech, a start-up, aimed at carrying out high quality research and developmental activities. These activities are reinforced and driven by qualified professional staff from diverse fields of science. It is fostered by a group of healthcare and research professionals, who have extensive experience in the field of phytochemistry, biotechnology and clinical medicine.
Atrimed’s founders are individuals who are actively involved in human healthcare and research and developmental activities. Director and Chief Scientific Officer, Dr Latha Damle is an Ayurvedic physician with post graduate degree in plant pharmacology and a fellowship in the field of medicinal chemistry at Toyama Medical and Pharmaceutical University Toyama, Japan. She has also acquired proficiency in chromatographic analysis which is the backbone of natural products research.
Dr Latha Damle’s research is propelled by her insight that therapeutic efficacy cannot be attributed to one molecule but to a combination of multiple complimentary molecules, also known as Poly-pharmacology. She studies the biological activity of complimentary molecules.She has developed new methods of extraction of unique chemicals from plants, their standardization and measurement of their presence in the final product.
Dr Latha, with her understanding of plant chemistry, knows that the time of collection of plant material and parts of the plants to be used for optimum extraction are of prime importance. With her background in clinical pharmacology and medicine, she has evaluated the efficacy of these Phyto-molecules against various diseases.
In this Interview, Dr Latha shares insights into the working philosophy, quality ethics and solutions that Atrimed is working to deliver.
Kindly share more details about Atrimed.
At Atrimed Biotech, we have active collaboration with pharmaceutical companies to conduct research into authenticating and investigating old medical concepts through modern methods, resulting in development of potential leads to new pharmaceutical products. Quality and ethics are inherent to the organization. Atrimed has policies and procedures to safeguard the highest quality standards and assured therapeutic efficacy. Our research professionals demonstrate world-class competence and aptitude, with the support of robust infrastructure. The main strategy is based on integrated discovery, several approaches to development and specific disease proficiency (inflammation, infection, immunomodulation etc).
Atrimed Biotech is an LLP, incubated at the Bangalore Bioinnovation Centre (BBC), Bangalore Helix Biotech Park, Institute for Bioinformatics & Applied Biotechnology (IBAB), Bangalore.
Kindly tell us about the prominent services and solutions that Atrimed offers.
We are involved in widespread research of phytochemicals and their applications in the field of medicine. Currently our focus is to develop therapeutics for autoimmune diseases that lead to inflammation, such as psoriasis; and in skin infections such as acne, and other bacterial and fungal infections. Our research is also focused on other aspects of human health, such as wound healing, anti-aging etc.
We have gained potential leads to breakthrough remedies in treating psoriasis and acne. These leads will be interpreted and analysed by our team, to elucidate the mechanism of action of the therapeutics, using several chemical, biochemical, immunological and tissue culture techniques. The research team has a great insight into ancient knowledge and expertise in human diseases, plant chemistry and biotechnology. We corroborate old concepts through modern methods, which include lab tests and clinical trials in collaboration with highly reputed independent medical research centres and hospitals. We are thus able to translate old wisdom into new and fuse them efficiently.
What is the present scenario of the industry? How are you contributing to making it better?
The current pandemic situation increased difficulties in every industry, and Ours is also not spared. Most players are invested in COVID-19 research. We are focused on the current situation and market opportunities providing immunomodulator products, advanced plant-science-based sanitizer along with our existing products. Our Team is also working on different aspects of COVID-19. Our E-lecture series AtrimedX focused on insights and awareness about COVID. We started Telemedicine practices in our Mahila clinics to benefit the needy patients and enable them to stay safe at home.
Atrimed has done extensive research on Covid 19 targets and a Virucidal (anti-viral) drug of Herbal origin is going for Phase -2 trial. The drug has proved safe and effective in killing the virus in Invitro studies.
Among number of competitors, how have you managed to stay at the top of the ladder? What are the characteristics that set you apart?
We are using modern and cutting edge science to improve over traditional ayurvedic medicine. This is what makes us different from our competitors in terms of drug development or effective products. We offer very niche’ products lines and focus on the quality. Conceptualising every scenario helps us to deliver the best in the segment. There are many things we can gain and learn from plants & nature, and we are trying to do that.
What are the latest developments that you have identified in your field of focus? How do you ensure to stay at pace with them?
We are into drug discovery for COVID19. We will soon announce a breakthrough. We are also working on snake venom neutralisation and cancer Immunology.
What are your future plans for the company? Where do you see the company in the years to come?
We launched plant science-based face wash and Hand sanitizer in last month. We will soon launch a range of plant-science based beauty and healthcare products. We are working on to create products which are more efficient than average herbal products with the help of advanced research and medical science. The demand for natural products is increasing day by day future looks extremely bright for us.
