Page 15 - Sphere No.20 (Nov 2007)

SPHERE 13
OR THOUSANDS OF YEARS, the Chinese have
used soups, pills and lotions extracted fromherbs
and plants to treat illness and cure disease. Even
though the new affluence in China has made West-
ern-style pharmaceuticals eminently affordable, traditional remedies
handed down over the generations have maintained their popularity.
Many of the ancient ways of dealing with medical ailments clearly
work well, but until recently there was scant scientific data that would
force sceptics to take a hard look at the efficacy of these centuries-old
treatments. That is no longer the case.
Hutchison China MediTech Limited (Chi-Med), a company that strad-
dles both the ancient and modern worlds of Chinese medicine, has set out
to establish, once and for all, what works and what doesn’t, using the precise,
thorough and long-term testing that Western-style pharmaceuticals undergo
before reaching the market.
To date, the results have been nothing short of sensational, producing solid evi-
dence to show that certain botanical compounds do indeed help in the treatment of
cancer and other serious diseases. A number of the drugs are at the final stages of the
exhaustive trials demanded by the United States’ regulatory body, the Food and Drug
Administration (FDA), and could be on the market in just a few years.
“This is pioneering work by any standards, it is inspirational work and we are very ex-
cited,” says Dr Samantha Du, the China-born, United States-trained scientist in charge of re-
search and development for Chi-Med. “We are beginning to attract a lot of attention.”
Dr Du’s team works in a state-of-the-art research lab just outside Shanghai and is at-
tracting some of the best talents in the country, ambitious individuals lured by the siren-call
Chinese
medicine
goes West
F

The search for a source of new wonder drugs
By Mark Graham