Developing Botanical Products from India for the US Market

Botanical or herbal medicine is an age-old practice. Nonetheless, with only 10% of the Earth's estimated 250,000 species of plants considered medicinal, botanicals are the "sleeping giant" of drug development. Indeed, increased side effects of chemical drugs, lack of treatment for several chronic diseases, high cost of new drugs, microbial resistance and emerging diseases are sparking renewed public interest in complementary and alternative medicines.¹ The terms "complementary medicine" or "alternative medicine," which are used interchangeably with "traditional medicine" in some countries, refer to a broad set of healthcare practices that are part of a country's tradition and are not integrated into the modern healthcare system.