China, in a characteristic fusion of cultural tradition and technological modernity, is increasingly subjecting traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) to proper scientific scrutiny. TCM is a form of medicine dating back thousands of years and listing a total of 12,807 medicinal materials derived from natural sources, about 5,000 of which may have some clinically proven efficacy. TCM enjoys a growing share of the global market in herbal medicines-a market that, according to the World Health Organization (WHO), stood at $60 billion per year in 2002 and will rise, according to some forecasts, to $5 trillion by 2050, said a Boston Consulting Group study.
Of that colossal herbal-medicine market, TCM now enjoys about a 5 percent share. The Chinese government's goal is to raise it to 15 percent in the next ten years. Since 1992, more than 15 labs have been set up to modernize and develop TCM studies. Several of them are dedicated to researching specific therapeutic areas, such as liver disease or diabetes.
Some of the active ingredients extracted from TCM preparations have already been proved clinically effective or are on the verge of vindication: arsenic trioxide has been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration as a treatment for acute promyelocytic leukemia; and ZT-1, a novel cholinesterase inhibitor for treating Alzheimer's disease, recently underwent successful Phase II clinical trials in Europe. MFCs have slowly been getting involved. Novartis, for example, in partnership with several Chinese research institutes and companies, helped to develop an artemisinin-based malaria drug, Coartem; it is now distributing it, with WHO backing, in malaria-endemic parts of Africa. The company is contemplating TCM as a research area for its new R&D center in China. Sanofi-Aventis is likewise keen on pursuing R&D in some areas of TCM. And Servier is teaming up with the Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica for TCM-based research in oncology, metabolism, and the central nervous system, noted the BCG study.
According to various sources, China exported traditional medicines worth 830 million U.S. dollars in 2005 according to the China Association of Traditional Chinese Medicine and the export earnings represented a 14.55 percent increase from the previous year.
Customs figures show China exports 240,000 tons of medicines annually, of which 200,000 tons are raw herbs. The exported raw herbs accounted for 20 percent of the country's annual harvest. China exported its traditional medicines to 164 countries and regions in 2005, with export earnings reaching a record 830 million U.S. dollars, according to the China Association of Traditional Chinese Medicine. The export earnings represented a 14.55 percent increase from the previous year. However, most of the earnings came from exports of low value-added extracted herbal substances and raw materials.
In China, more than 3,000 enterprises are engaged in traditional Chinese medicine processing. In 2004, the industry generated 90 billion yuan (11.1 billion US dollars) in output value, accounting for 26 percent of China's entire pharmaceutical section. Chinese medicinal herbs are in short supply with annual demand soaring to 600,000 tons, four times the amount of ten years ago. The latest national research on natural herb resources found that China has 11,118 kinds of herbs with medicinal effects. The market demand for traditional Chinese medicine maintains a 15-percent annual increase over the past ten years.
However, the crop area of medicinal herbs dropped from 270,000 ha in 2003 to less than 200,000 ha in 2004, because of the lack of supply of wild seeds. About 60 to 70 percent of the 3,000 endangered plants in China had medicinal effects. The protection and exploration of wild herbs was key to sustaining China's pharmaceutical industry. It is estimated that at least 340,000 ha. of cropland is needed to meet the demand, but there is a shortage of about 80 of 400 commonly used herbs.
China has 2,868 registered hospitals specializing in Chinese medical science, employing more than 270,000 herbalist doctors.