Institute to make headway in component-based TCM research

The institute of TCM at Tianjin University of Traditional Chinese Medicine is expected to make headways in the component-based research and intelligent manufacturing of TCM in the near future, said an executive of the institute.

The institute which led by Zhang Boli, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, and president of Tianjin University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, has made great contribution to the world’s anti-COVID-19 pandemic struggle and performed a miracle by mitigating the COVID-19 illness using TCM in makeshift hospitals in Wuhan, Hubei province. The effort lured world attention on TCM.

Zhang said during an awards ceremony that Tianjin municipal government honors to the team for its commitment in the fighting against the novel coronavirus pneumonia: "During the campaign, the team has investigated more than 1,000 cases with different symptoms and analyzed treatment effects, which helped inform the choice between conventional modern medicine or the widely adopted and effective traditional medicines."

Zhang Junhua, director of evidence-based medicine center at the university and a head of the team, said researchers worldwide "has paid close attention to TCM".

The Xuanfeibaidu particle has been applied to patients in the major makeshift hospitals and no patients from the mild symptoms have turned severe and all of them (564 confirmed patients) have been discharged from the hospitals.

The research and development was based on the experience by the century-honored TCM as well as modern research.

In the near future, the institute, which owns up to 2,500 units of leading equipment, will focus on the innovation of TCM, the upgraded research and development of important patent drugs and intelligent manufacturing of the TCM.

“The R&D of component-based Chinese medicine and evidence-based evaluation of Chinese medicine are on top of the agenda,” said Zhang Junhua,

The institute has an area of 1,000 square meters of the component storage center, which could be home to up to 120,000 of TCM component.

The institute is expected to release more than 80,000 components of TCM and 5,000 compounds in next five years, which will facilitate development of new drugs of TCM, Zhang Junhua said.

Yao Xiaoqing, president of Tianjin Yao Xiaoqing, president of Tianjin Chase Sun Pharmaceutical Co, the producer of the Xuebijing injection, one of the three traditional Chinese medicines pinpointed by government authorities to treat the coronavirus pneumonias, said it "has undergone 10 years of difficult component-based studies in line with rigorous Western medicine research standards, and convinced Western counterparts by its effects and results".

The institute is upgrading its evidence database of TCM. To date, it has made more than 80,000 clinical trials and covered about 1,700 Chinese patent drugs.

The intelligent manufacturing of TCM will focus on improving efficiency and consistency between batches during industry manufacturing, especially in the processes of extraction, concentration, drying and preparation.

Zhang Junhua said: “The research of TCM is empowered by the combination of thousands of years’ experience and modern technology; in contrast, Western medicine’s research is mainly empowered by the technology.”