Lucknow, Oct 30 (IANS): The National Botanical Research Institute (NBRI) and Indian Institute of Toxicology Research (IITR) in collaboration with a urologist Salil Tandon, have developed a herbal medicine that will dissolve kidney stones.

The new medicine, URO-05, provides a non-invasive alternative to remove stones from kidneys. The cost-effective medicines has been developed through five years of research.

The technology of the drug was transferred for production to NBRI on Tuesday which also marked the 67th annual day of the institute.

The drug which is to be orally administered, is set for production and will be available in the market within six months.

The clinical trial of this drug was done at King George Medical University (KGMU) and the tests, so far, have been quite encouraging.

The drug was found effective for up to one-centimetre stone size. Initial results have shown about 75 per cent reduction in stone size with no adverse effects," said Tandon.

He said that the drug also helps in post lithotripsy (removing kidney stone using sound wave) stone expulsion. About 65 per cent patients have shown very good symptomatic relief from pain, burning, frequency and urgency of urine.

The IITR has checked the medicine for toxicity and found no major side effects of consumption.

The medicine is prepared from five plants found in the Gangetic plain. Not only this, the vegetation is also available in abundance, due to which there will be no problem of raw materials for the manufacture of medicines.

Scientists claim that herbal medicine is as effective as the allopathic drug Temsulosin given for stone. Also, being herbal, it does not have any side effects.