Rx: Safe, effective plant-based cough remedies
MANILA, Philippines - Who would have thought that unassuming plants and herbs that grew in our backyard could be the source of a multi-million peso industry one day? Clinical studies proving phytomedicines’ (or plant-based drugs) efficacy and growing consumer trust and patronage have created a huge market for such natural-based remedies. As a result, big pharmaceutical companies in the Philippines have begun to aggressively develop new products from indigenous sources.
Sales figures from lagundi-based cough medicines alone rose from P38 million in 2004 to an astounding P500 million in October, 2011. Pascual Laboratories (PascualLab), the first pharmaceutical company to develop and market the first licensed herbal medicine in the country, accounts for 90 percent of this figure, thanks to its Ascof Lagundi brand, the most successful phytomedicine in the Philippines today.
Ascof was the first herbal medicine licensed by the Philippine Council for Health Research and Development (PCHRD) and the Department of Science and Technology (DOST). It was introduced by PascualLab in 1996 in collaboration with the National Integrated Research Program of Medicinal Plants (NIRPROMP), the government institution that undertakes research on herbal plants for medicinal purposes.
Today, PascualLab has its own Herbal R&D and Product & Process Development groups which collaborate with independent medical and research institutions in the country to continuously improve its products. Innovations that the company has implemented in over two decades have resulted in the Ascof that it is today — boasting higher quality than products produced using an older technology. The brand has since become synonymous to safe and natural healing that is anchored on scientific foundation, all-natural ingredients, and PascualLab’s heritage that is respected by consumers and the industry as a whole.
The company gives consumers the assurance that only organically-grown and 100-percent natural lagundi leaves are used in the formulation of Ascof, making it the superior brand on the market. It has an all-organic, award-winning 40-hectare Leoni Agri Corp. (LAC) plantation in Nueva Ecija that is free of all pesticides, herbicides, fertilizers and other chemicals. It is a vast herbal repository where the best and high quality medicinal plant varieties are nurtured. Lagundi leaves used in Ascof come from here, carefully processed before being packaged into capsule, tablet, and syrup forms.
But in the midst of all the buzz on phytomedicines, Ascof should not be confused with herbal or food supplements. It is categorized as a medicine developed through years of scientific research and validated by clinical trials. Its HMR-01 registration number shows that Ascof is the first plant-based medicine registered under the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Guaranteed safe for children, Ascof has no side effects and poses no risk of overdose. Unlike other chemical-based medicines, it does not lead to drowsiness, dizziness or upset stomach. This is especially helpful when the person suffering from cough needs to keep an uninterrupted schedule, so various work or school obligations are fulfilled without discomfort.
Ascof has garnered a number of important achievements. It was awarded the Silver Medal 1997 at the 25th International Exhibition of Inventions in Switzerland. It received the Rising Star Citation at the CITEM’s 1997 Golden Shell Awards. These, plus more importantly, widespread recognition and acclaim given to it by new and long-time Ascof users, make it an established valuable medical innovation.
With lagundi being actively endorsed by the Department of Health, Ascof remains mothers’ most preferred and doctors’ most-prescribed phytomedicine/lagundi brand. Overall, it is the second leading cough medicine brand, posing a formidable challenge to chemically-formulated competitors.
