China is setting up a system to standardize the production of its traditional Chinese medicines (TCM) in order to introduce more varieties to the world.

The system is to be finally established by the end of 2010, according to Li Boxi, a researcher from the Development Research Centre of the State Council.

He announced the decision at the Sixth Asia Pacific Pharmaceuticals Roundtable earlier this week in Shanghai, gathering many large international pharmaceutical giants and experts.

"In China, TCM now holds about one-fourth market share, but contributes approximately 40 per cent of the profits of the pharmaceutical sector," said Li.

"If we can determine the exact effective components in TCM and accord them with international standards, we will be able to promote them to a wider international market," said Jiang Zhenwei, general manager of the Shanghai Medicines and Health Products Import and Export Company.

The Chinese Government is paying more and more attention to the innovation and development of TCM, and has included the innovation into its next five-year plan, according to Li.

Although chemical compound medicines still play the main role in the world's healthcare products consumption, botanical medicines, which fall into the category of TCM, have shown strong growth in recent years.

The first botanic recipe from China will hopefully be approved by Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in United States, and will go into clinical tests early next year.

"Apart from this recipe, which cures cancer, we plan to introduce more botanic medicines to the international market, said Samantha Du from Hutchison MediPharma, under Hutchison Whampoa Limited, a Hong Kong business giant.

"The biggest challenge for us to introduce TCM to the world is how to probe their exact chemical composition, and define their clear effects and side effects."

Hutchison MediPharma opened its new research centre, focused on botanic medicine development, in Pudong of Shanghai at the end of last month, and has put in some US$30 million investment for the first phase.

Hutchison Whampoa signed a preliminary agreement with Guangzhou Baiyunshan Pharmaceutical Co Ltd to form a 50-50 medical joint venture in Guangzhou, which will mainly involve research and development, production and marketing of TCM.

"Hutchison is exploring more co-operations with local big Chinese medicine producers," said Du.

Two pharmaceutical giants, Roche and Pfizer, each established research and development centres and regional centres in Shanghai at the end of last month.

Source: China Daily