For the past twenty years Indian Ayurvedic medicine has experienced a profound transformation originating in a complex process of industrialization and unequal but significant integration within the world of global pharmacy. The reformulation of classical combinations of medicinal plants described in centuries-old reference texts used by Ayurvedic practitioners lies at the heart of this process. Reformulation means at the same time simplifying and standardizing polyherbal combinations in order to (1) adapt them to mass and mechanized industrial processing, (2) mobilize elements of biomedical experimentation in the laboratory and the clinic to provide evidence of medical value, and (3) link Ayurvedic and biomedical categories to address the health needs of cosmopolitan consumers. Intellectual property rights play a peculiar role in the reformulation strategy since Ayurvedic formulas are viewed both as collective resources that must be protected from private appropriation to ensure further mining and as innovative products deemed protected through trademarks and patents.
