LONDON: Yet another set of Indian herbal cures is now finding its way to the West, this time via Vietnam.

A British pharmacy firm - Phytopharm -- has entered into a contract with a Vietnamese family making herbal cures for generations. But many of these cures come originally from India.

Phytopharm has signed a multi-million pound deal with Vietnamese herbal practitioner Ba Hoang. Ba has been using the herbal treatment after extensive research into herbal medicines from India and China.

Richard Dixey, Phytopharm's chief executive said in a statement issued Tuesday, "Ba's family has been collecting data on these medicines for three generations." He said: "The herbs have been drawn from Chinese and Indian medical traditions, as Vietnam is the corridor between the two."

The herbal treatment that doctor Ba has been practicing is now known to have cured several blood disorders. The first lot of herbs that Phytopharm is buying rights over is known to treat three chronic diseases.

That includes treatment for a blood disorder called idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura (ITP), which is incurable by Western medicine. The two other disorders the herbs have been known to treat relate to kidney disorders and asthma.

ITP is an autoimmune disease where antibodies are produced against platelets leading to a decrease in their number. It is the most common autoimmune bleeding disorder seen by pediatricians.

The herbs used by Ba have treated Chronic Glomerulonephritis (CG), a kidney disorder, and asthma. CG is a severe disorder characterized by the inflammation and gradual progressive destruction of the internal structures of the kidney. Damage to these structures leads to the loss of protein and blood into the urine.

Phytopharm plans to carry out more clinical trials on the herbal treatment and has the rights to make and patent any drugs based on the herbal

remedies. "Extensive patient records have been gathered concerning the successful treatment of chronic ITP with a formula containing extracts of three medicinal plants," Phytopharm said in its statement.

The most common disorder that Ba has been able to treat is asthma, which affects 150 million people worldwide.

"This agreement underlines our commitment to seek medicines based on traditional medicinal materials for diseases that are poorly managed in the West. The trials in Vietnam so far have shown really quite dramatic results," Dixey said.

(From India Abroad News Service)