India’s top Ayurveda hospital chain Apollo AyurVAID, has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Jawaharlal Nehru Tropical Botanic Garden and Research Institute (JNTBGRI), an autonomous R&D institution under the Kerala State Council for Science, Technology and Environment (KSCSTE), to promote collaborative research in herbal drug development and standardisation.
The partnership, which will initially remain effective for three years, will facilitate Apollo AyurVAID and JNTBGRI to undertake joint R&D initiatives that cover silico drug design, raw herb authentication, phytochemical and pharmacological standardisation. The two institutions shall co-create frameworks for translational research that link discovery science with product development and therapeutic practice. The collaboration also includes mutual support in applying for funding proposals, knowledge exchange, and scientific dissemination through lectures and seminars.
Rajiv Vasudevan, founder, MD & CEO, Apollo AyurVAID, said the alliance represented a strategic leap forward in the company’s mission to build a clinically robust, evidence-led ecosystem for Ayurveda-based care by integrating JNTBGRI’s deep scientific expertise with Apollo AyurVAID’s two decades of precision Ayurveda experience.
Dr V. Arunachalam, director, KSCSTE-JNTBGRI noted that the collaboration with Apollo AyurVAID would foster sustainable use of biodiversity in developing ayurvedic healthcare solutions by combining cutting-edge science such as in silico approaches, pharmacology, traditional ayurvedic practices, and animal model testing with Ayurvedic wisdom.
The MoU was formally exchanged during the KSCSTE R&D Summit 2025, held in the presence of Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan during a summit on “Translating R&D Innovations into Scalable Solutions,” bringing together policymakers, researchers, industry leaders, and innovators from across the state and country.
