Bangalore, April 23 (IANS) India’s leading life sciences firm Avesthangen Ltd has developed a herbal medicine, using methi or fenugreek as main ingredient, to manage blood sugar and prevent diabetes. “We have successfully completed clinical trials of our bioactive product developed with fenugreek as the main ingredient. The product is a unique combination of traditional medicine (ayurveda) and modern systems biology,” Avesthangen founder chairperson Villoo Morawala Patell told reporters at a preview of the product here Wednesday.

The medicine, to be launched in the domestic market in the third week of May under Teestar brand, has been developed with World Bank funding and using the firm’s two patented technologies and a comprehensive database called Adept.

The medicine helps in maintaining blood glucose level by intervening the carbohydrate metabolism. It ensures that less quantity of glucose enters bloodstream by curbing absorption of carbohydrates in the body.

“We have used MetaGrid, a unique algorithm, to enable profiling of the herbal extracts and maintaining batch-to-batch reproducibility of bioactive,” Patell said.

The product will be available as a dietary supplement in the form of capsule or crackers produced by its subsidiary Good Earth. The retail price will be Rs.32 per 100 gm pack.

Good Earth has set up a 2,000-tonne modular plant at Malur, about 80 km from here, to organically process herbs and produce the ayurvedic products in the form of capsules, biscuits and crackers.

The trials validated the product’s efficacy by reducing the glycemic load of the food. Comprising pre-clinical and post-clinical phases, the trials were conducted by Pune-based clinical research organisation Intox and Bangalore-based Manipal AcuNova Ltd. They were proven to be safe without any adverse reaction.

“In the field of functional foods, we have raised the bar by introducing Teestar, which in Persian means North Star. The product was evaluated after understanding science behind activity. This is the first of the seven bio-actives to be rolled out in phases,” Patell said.

The other bio-actives in the pipeline are Aspand to control blood sugar, Cincata to maintain blood glucose, Bonapure to promote bone growth, Phytossea to assist inhibiting cartilage degradation, Smartchol to moderate cholesterol level and Xanomax as anti-oxidant property.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) estimates that 180 million people worldwide have diabetes. Mortality due to diabetes is projected to increase by 50 percent in the next 10 years if urgent measures are not taken now.

In the Indian subcontinent, about 35 million suffer from the dreaded disease. With 30 percent of the affected being under 40 years, it is feared India will be the diabetic capital of the world by 2025.