In 2001, Hutchison Whampoa and Shanghai Pharmaceuticals Co., Ltd. jointly invested in the formation of Shanghai Hutchison Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. This is Shanghai's first joint venture of traditional Chinese medicine and pharmaceuticals. It is this platform that gives Zhou Junjie an opportunity to think about the Chinese medicine industry in China.
The Industrialization Innovation of "Middle School and Western Learning"
Zhou Junjie thinks that the so-called modernization of traditional Chinese medicine in these years has fallen into a misunderstanding that machinery is copying Western medicine standards to cover traditional Chinese medicines, which is fundamentally unfavorable to the innovation of traditional Chinese medicines.
"It is possible to turn traditional Chinese medicine into a Western plant medicine." He is deeply concerned about this.
The increasing recognition of botanical drugs in the international community is certainly a good opportunity for the Chinese medicine industry to take advantage of the wind. However, according to the paradigm of western medicine, the effective sites and chemical structures of each individual party are simply explored and the effective relationship can be drawn. In essence, it deviated from the theoretical system of Chinese medicine. Some scholars have warned that this is not a "suicide transformation" using Western medicine's soft knife.
"We tend to be 'Western' too fast." There was a hint of helplessness in his words. Many experts involved in the formulation of Chinese medicine industry policies may not truly understand the theory and practice of recognizing Chinese medicine. This has a lot to do with the theory and knowledge structure they inherited from Western medicine.
The essence of traditional Chinese medicine lies in the composition of various ingredients, and the compatibility is also different. Reliance on the mutual restraint and coordination of multi-flavor medicinal herbs has paid more attention to the balance and harmony of human functions. After thousands of years of accumulation, after continuous elimination and practice, the theoretical system of Chinese medicine has its own rational core, and this is the core competitiveness of traditional Chinese medicine that cannot be lost. Zhou Junjie believes that for Chinese medicine manufacturers, they should adhere to the principle of "using high school as the subject and Western learning as their purpose," and using advanced technologies to supplement the traditional Chinese medicine theory system.
However, there is a problem that follows: the emphasis on individualization of Chinese medicine, and the contradiction between the scale of production and industrial production requirements should be resolved?
Zhou Junjie's answer is that, in the process of syndrome differentiation, some relatively common factors can be extracted to carry out mass production. For example, HuXian BaoXin Pill produced by HuangXian Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. is from the ancient “Song He Xiang Pill†of the Song Dynasty, and the original group has 14 herbs. Later, according to modern scientific methods, experiments and clinics were carried out, and each animal’s and human body’s taste was obtained. Pharmacological effects, and finally found that 7 herbs and cardiovascular directly related. After screening, the most essential part of this product contains the 7 herbs.
"In addition, the current internationally recognized advanced technology methods and means can also be applied to clarify the mechanism of action of proprietary Chinese medicines and strengthen their persuasiveness."
In 2000, at the annual heart disease conference held in the United States, many experts talked about the concept of angiogenesis, referring to the emergence of new collateral vessels in the ischemic myocardium, thereby reducing the use of bypass grafts or stents—this is actually The mechanism of action of Shexiang Baoxin Pill is similar. This inspired the company to establish a scientific research fund. Under the leadership of Prof. Dai Ruihong of Huashan Hospital, a team was formed to conduct research. Earlier this year, he received an award for the role of angiogenesis, and Several authoritative journals such as LifeScience published several papers.
“Using a common language to elaborate and let the international community understand Chinese medicine more fully is a complement to the development of Chinese medicine.†In Zhou Junjie’s view, such innovation is a viable way of “using Western learning as a meansâ€.
International Market - Expecting Countries to Formulate Independent Industry Standards
In the Western mainstream market, Chinese medicine has not yet attained “name points,†but it has emerged as a Dietary Supplement or alternative therapy, rather than a drug in the real sense.
Zhou Junjie introduced that in the United States, the FDA drug certification idea is either a single prescription or a small group prescription, and it takes a long time, pharmacological and clinical needs of 8 to 12 years, each drug average investment of 800 million to 1 billion US dollars. Hehuang Pharmaceutical has two projects in the second phase of clinical practice. "The investment is quite large, but it is looking at the future."
Three years ago, Hutchison Whampoa acquired the second-largest pharmaceutical chain store in Europe. If drugs are approved by the European Union to enter the mainstream market in the future, they can have backing channels. In addition, the company also opened a "SEN (sen)" Chinese medicine shop in London, England, using a variety of methods to promote Chinese medicine culture and establish a brand. There are now 5 stores, and last year it achieved a break-even.
The path of internationalization of traditional Chinese medicine is not easy. After all, western society is in a marginalized position. “Developing foreign markets may be difficult to make profit in three to five years.â€
“The national thing must go to the world, not only to have nationality, but also to need a strong national concept and strong promotion.†Zhou Junjie believes that in the long run, China’s rising national image will enhance the international acceptance of Chinese medicine, but at present Lack of independent, internationally recognized industrial standards will inevitably lead people to breathe bad breath.
"If our country can devote a long time to implementing a coherent policy and establish a more convincing, safe and controllable standard, it will go further if the country promotes it internationally." In his view, Chinese medicine Standards should be a set of specifications that ensure efficacy and safety.
For example, the typical “Xiao Chai Hu Tang†in Japanese Kampo medicine has a certain influence in the international community, and the key point is to convey a credible standard to the customer—they have a clear definition of the cultivation conditions, collection time, and content of the Liu Wei medicine. The description, for example, the location of the planting will be specific to the north latitude east longitude, giving a safe and credible impression and having a controllable safety standard.
At present, China's exports account for the vast majority of raw materials and intermediates. Chinese patent medicines only account for 3% to 5% of the international market's output value. Most of them are in the low-end market, while the international traditional medicine market is produced in Japan and South Korea. "Occupy, foreign Chinese medicine provides quality inspection data in line with international standards, which is what we have missed.
This also poses a challenge to the domestic industry concentration of Chinese medicine companies. At present, there are more than 6,000 pharmaceutical companies in China. Low level of duplicate imitations and vicious competition will inevitably sacrifice the quality of products. Even in the international market, traditional Chinese medicines will be ashamed. In the previous years, products exported by domestic Chinese medicine companies were found to be pesticides, The excessive impact of heavy metals and the recent turmoil in Chinese medicine injections cannot be overlooked. Industrial cleanup is really necessary.
In the long run, implementing stricter industry access standards, improving internal strength, and vigorously promoting internationally is the path to internationalization of the Chinese medicine industry.
The micro-operational feasible way
"The two years are the adjustment period for the entire industry." Zhou Junjie thinks.
Industry competition is homogenous and competition cannot be won or sustained because of price competition. For mainstream Chinese companies, management should find more room for manoeuvre. Zhou Junjie believes that for companies to obtain sustainable competitive advantages, they should grasp several key points on the big picture: effective products, strong brands, and a sound sales network.
"Internationally mainstream pharmaceutical companies, the most important input for R & D, products are often difficult to replace, is the company's core competitiveness. However, currently in China, mostly generic drugs, innovative R & D is very limited." Zhou Junjie introduction. He believes that the price policy should not be one-size-fits-all, and innovation should be encouraged for original, independent intellectual property drugs.
From the perspective of marketing, there are two points that need to be strengthened: brand planning capabilities and sales force execution management system. The latter mainly through the procedural rules of operation.
In shaping the product image, the role of Chinese medicine in health, health, rehabilitation and sub-health should be highlighted. In addition, it is also possible to improve and innovate in dosage forms such as micro-pellets, soft capsules, skin administration, sublingual disintegration and the like, which can more meet the needs of modern customers.
Zhou Junjie recalled that Mr. Li Ka-shing had told him that the Chinese medicine industry must be patiently nurtured and should not attempt to make quick money.