The Indian Institute of Integrative Medicine (IIIM), Jammu, has developed a drug for the treatment of hypertension and breast cancer

The Indian Institute of Integrative Medicine (IIIM), Jammu, has developed a drug for the treatment of hypertension and breast cancer, an official said.

The drug Risorine is presently used by the medical fraternity for management of tuberculosis.

We have incorporated herbal molecule extracted from pepper into the Risorine drug to reduce its toxic effect and make it safer for long time use, the Director IIIM Ram Vishwakarma told a meeting of the Scientific Advisory Committee of the state on Tuesday.

The director said the institution has produced drugs with low toxicity for the treatment of hyper-tension and breast cancer.

He said Jammu and Kashmir is the only state in the world which produces basic drug element texas beccata for management of cancers, and claimed that the IIIM, Jammu has one of the four highly technical laboratories in the country to handle microbes and conduct researches.

The Director said Jammu and Kashmir is supplying products from the IIIM institute to 11 states of the country including Tamil Nadu, Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra.

He said three facilities of Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Spectrometer (NMR) each valuing Rs.2.50 crore have been installed in the institute to conduct chemical structuring of molecules.

He said menthol (a mint product) is now being synthesized in the institute and a new form of organic micro nutrient has been evolved which is applied to the agriculture crops by sprinkling on the leaves and branches as a bio-fertilizer.

--Indo-Asian News Service bj/rn