2024-06-30 20:28 Jinyun
A wisp of medicinal incense has been passed down for thousands of years. A prescription prescribed by Hua Tuo, a physician in the Eastern Han Dynasty, thousands of years ago, can it still be effective today? As a precious wealth left by the brilliant Chinese civilization, how can traditional Chinese medicine continue to write a new chapter of the times and become a "golden mountain" in the industry? The answers to these questions can be found in Tianjin Institute of Materia Medica.
It has been used for more than 1,800 years
Rejuvenate through secondary development
The sample of the Chinese medicine extraction solution was put into the high-performance liquid chromatograph, and after 30 minutes, a curve with twists and turns appeared on the computer screen...... In the analysis and testing laboratory of Tianjin Institute of Materia Medica, researcher Zhang Tiejun is guiding young researchers to analyze and test the chemical substance group of Biqi capsules. The Chinese patent medicine Biqi Capsule is derived from the classic prescription "one elixir" of the famous doctor Hua Tuo in the Han Dynasty. From "Baoshou Pill", "Ten Thousand Diseases Rejuvenation Pill", "Muscle and Bone Pain Relief Pill" to the well-known Biqi Capsule of contemporary people, this prescription has been continuously improved and has been used for more than 1,800 years.
In March 2021, the traditional Chinese medicine R&D team of Tianjin Institute of Pharmaceutical Research started the secondary development of Biqi capsules. After 2 years of research, the team has completed many tasks such as the systematic identification of chemical substance groups of Biqi capsules, the basis and mechanism of action of pharmacodynamic substances, the study of compatibility rules, the determination of quality markers and the improvement of quality standards.
Since it is a prescription that has been used for thousands of years, why should it be redeveloped?
The valuable experience of traditional Chinese medicine comes from the accumulation of the Chinese nation in thousands of years of practice of disease treatment and prevention, and a considerable part of the traditional Chinese medicine prescriptions have been handed down in the form of compound prescriptions. Taking Biqi capsule as an example, it has a common taste of the Jun medicine Nux nux; the four flavors of Codonopsis, Atractylodes, Poria cocos and Salvia; adjuvants Panax notoginseng, Chuanxiong, hyssop, and Dilong; Make the herb licorice a taste. It not only has many types of medicinal materials and contains many chemical components; Moreover, under the compatibility relationship of the king, the minister, the adjutant and the envoy, its pharmacological effect has the characteristics of multiple targets and multiple levels, which greatly increases the difficulty of interpreting the pharmacological effect.
"We carry out the secondary development of traditional Chinese medicine, which is to re-research and re-develop the marketed Chinese patent medicine through modern research technologies such as liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry technology, network pharmacology, computer-aided design, high-throughput activity screening, proteomics, metabolomics, bioinformatics, etc., so as to achieve the level of clear pharmacodynamic substances, clear mechanism of action, reasonable clinical positioning, outstanding action characteristics, advanced pharmaceutical technology, and comprehensive quality control, so as to enhance the efficacy and safety of drugs and improve the quality of products. At the same time, new application areas are explored. This is what we call opening the mysterious 'black box' of Chinese medicine. Zhang Tiejun, chief expert of traditional Chinese medicine of Tianjin Institute of Pharmaceutical Research and general manager of Heguang Chinese Medicine Technology Co., Ltd., said.
Be an industrial "translator"
Q-Marker's research on traditional Chinese medicine has spread to 28 countries
Traditional Chinese medicine has a unique holistic view, dialectical view, and system view, and if we want to make ancient Chinese medicine speak "modern words" well and promote the modernization and industrialization of traditional Chinese medicine, we cannot simply apply the Western medicine model. For the inheritance and development of traditional Chinese medicine, it is urgent to establish a modern standard and system that is all-round, multi-level, and in line with the thinking of traditional Chinese medicine.
Over the years, Tianjin Institute of Materia Medicaa has successively undertaken a number of major national scientific and technological projects such as the national "Seventh Five-Year Plan", the "Eighth Five-Year Plan", the "Eleventh Five-Year Plan" Science and Technology Support Plan, the National Natural Science Foundation of China, and the "Standardization Construction of Traditional Chinese Medicine", and has completed more than 100 quality standards for new Chinese medicines and 14 research on the improvement of quality standards for large varieties of Chinese patent medicines. 39 new drug standards for traditional Chinese medicine have been included in the Chinese Pharmacopoeia and the Ministerial Standards.
It is particularly worth mentioning that Academician Liu Changxiao, the leading expert of the team, first proposed and established a new concept of Q-Marker, a quality marker of traditional Chinese medicine, in 2016. Under the guidance of Academician Liu Changxiao, researcher Zhang Tiejun led the team to actively carry out Q-Marker research, created the Q-Marker innovation theory, and established a new model and a series of common key technologies based on Q-Marker quality research based on Q-Marker through the improvement of the quality standards of a number of representative Chinese herbal medicines (decoction pieces) and large varieties of traditional Chinese medicine. Q-Marker has been included in the second batch of key projects of the national "China Drug Regulatory Science Action Plan" and the Tianjin "Research on the Scientific Supervision System of Traditional Chinese Medicine Production Enterprises", and has completed the acceptance, becoming an important scientific basis and technical means for the supervision of the traditional Chinese medicine industry.
At present, the research of Q-Marker has been listed as a key project of the National Natural Science Foundation of China, and in addition to China, 28 countries, including the United States, the United Kingdom, India, etc., can also see the research on Q-Marker of traditional Chinese medicine. This concept has aroused great attention from the academic and industrial circles of traditional Chinese medicine. It is believed that with the in-depth development of relevant research and the wide application of the results, the Q-Marker theory and research methods of traditional Chinese medicine will be continuously enriched and improved, the quality control level of traditional Chinese medicine in mainland China will be greatly improved, and the whole process quality control and quality traceability system of traditional Chinese medicine will be gradually improved. Researcher Zhang Tiejun said.
The R&D team of Tianjin Institute of Pharmaceutical Research is using its own wisdom and strength to "translate" the treasures of Chinese medicine into an internationally recognized "common language", so that the world can understand the art of Qihuang, which has been inherited in China for thousands of years, and understand the excellent traditional Chinese culture.
More than 30 major national science and technology projects
Let ancient treasures become industrial "gold mountains"
Tianjin Institute of Pharmaceutical Research has a history of more than 60 years of drug research and development, and is also one of the most powerful institutions in the research and development of new Chinese medicine drugs in China. Among them, the cumulative sales of 8 representative varieties, such as Guizhi Poria Capsule, Pediatric Soybean Qiao Qingre Granules, and Sanqi Tongshu Capsules, exceeded 50 billion yuan. Since 2010, Tianjin Institute of Pharmaceutical Research has completed more than 100 preclinical studies for more than 50 traditional Chinese medicine companies, assisted enterprises in obtaining 21 clinical approvals for new drugs, and obtained 3 new drug certificates.
In recent years, Tianjin Institute of Pharmaceutical Research has completed more than 30 major national scientific and technological research projects in the research and development of traditional Chinese medicine, and the related research results have won more than 20 awards at or above the provincial and ministerial level, such as the first prize and the second prize of the National Science and Technology Progress Award, the first prize of Tianjin Science and Technology Progress Award, and the first prize of Anhui Science and Technology Progress Award.
Tianjin Institute of Pharmaceutical Research has also established a series of technology platforms for the research and development of traditional Chinese medicine, including the "Key Laboratory of Drug Druggability Evaluation and Systematic Transformation (Natural Medicine Unit)", "National and Local Joint Engineering Laboratory of Modern Preparation and Quality Control Technology of Traditional Chinese Medicine", "China-ASEAN International Cooperation Base for Innovation and R&D of Traditional Chinese Medicine", "China-Germany International Cooperation Base for Innovation of Traditional Chinese Medicine and Botanical Medicine", "Tianjin Key Laboratory of Quality Markers of Traditional Chinese Medicine" and "Tianjin Engineering Laboratory of Quality Control Technology of Traditional Chinese Medicine".
Transforming the ancient Qihuang medical technique into the "golden mountain" of the modern Chinese medicine industry, Tianjin Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences has brought a strong impetus to the development of Tianjin's traditional Chinese medicine industry.
"To build a leading domestic and world-renowned strong city of traditional Chinese medicine." Tianjin strengthened top-level design and overall planning, compiled the "3+12" traditional Chinese medicine policy system, and was selected as the first batch of pilot cities for smart supervision of traditional Chinese medicine production. In recent years, Tianjin has continuously strengthened the synergy of the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei traditional Chinese medicine industry, improved the industrialization and internationalization level of traditional Chinese medicine, improved the level of intelligent manufacturing of traditional Chinese medicine, and expanded the brand influence of "health medicine". In 2023, the industrial output value of Tianjin's traditional Chinese medicine industry chain will be 14.225 billion yuan, an increase of 12.5%; The added value increased by 14.6%, accounting for 1.5% of the city's industrial added value. Since 2023, Tianjin has completed the transformation of 9 experience prescriptions into traditional Chinese medicine preparations in medical institutions, selected 8 traditional Chinese medicine preparations in medical institutions for use in the city, and promoted the transformation of traditional Chinese medicine preparations in 2 medical institutions into new traditional Chinese medicine drugs. As of May 2024, there are 834 TCM approval numbers and 47 TCM production enterprises in Tianjin, gathering high-growth TCM companies such as Tianjin Pharmaceutical Darentang, Tasly, and Hongri Pharmaceutical.