AstraZeneca Accelerates TCM Innovation with New Chengdu Base and Modernization Strategy

On April 22, at the Boao Forum for Asia Annual Conference 2022, Chengdu High-tech Zone held an online signing ceremony with AstraZeneca for the establishment of AstraZeneca's Traditional Chinese Medicine Innovation Base. This marks the landing of the first innovation base in Sichuan Province led by a multinational Fortune 500 pharmaceutical enterprise as the "chain leader," focusing on the field of traditional Chinese medicine.

Reporters from the Economic Information Daily learned during interviews that this innovative industrial base will start with AstraZeneca's areas of expertise in treatment, focus on the modernization of the traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) industry, and rely on the guidance of academician experts for scientific research transformation and industrial development to create a one-stop TCM incubation industrial empowerment platform. Currently, it has initiated the docking of achievement transformation and project settlement with multiple academicians and TCM experts.

Why is AstraZeneca Expanding its Layout in the Traditional Chinese Medicine Industry in Chengdu

AstraZeneca is the world's 9th largest multinational pharmaceutical company, with its headquarters in Cambridge, UK. It focuses on treatment areas such as respiratory, cardiovascular, metabolic, oncology, gastrointestinal, renal, and rare diseases. AstraZeneca entered the Chinese market in 1993, and in 2021, its revenue reached $37.4 billion, of which $6 billion came from the China region.

Why choose to expand the layout in Chengdu and establish a base for innovation in traditional Chinese medicine? Wang Lei, Executive Vice President of AstraZeneca Global, told reporters that, in terms of industrial foundation, Sichuan is rich in traditional Chinese medicine resources with a wealth of authentic medicinal materials. Chengdu has excellent medical resources, expert resources, scientific research institutions, and talents in traditional Chinese medicine. In terms of urban development, Chengdu has convenient transportation, a vibrant economy, and can reach a vast area and population in western China. It is also a hub city for the China-Europe Railway Express.

The reporter learned that Sichuan was one of the seven provincial "Comprehensive Reform Demonstration Zones for Traditional Chinese Medicine" in China at the end of 2021, with abundant resources in traditional Chinese medicine. Chengdu High-Tech Zone, which has biomedicine as one of its three leading industries, has initially formed industrial clusters in modern Chinese medicine, chemical medicine, biologics, and medical devices, attracting more than 3,000 pharmaceutical enterprises. In 2021, the scale of the biomedicine industry broke through 100 billion yuan, ranking fourth in the comprehensive competitiveness ranking of biomedicine parks by the Ministry of Science and Technology of China. In the first quarter of this year, the total industrial output value of large-scale medical and health industry enterprises in Chengdu High-Tech Zone increased by 14.2% year-on-year, and the added value increased by 8.0% year-on-year.

This project, which has been implemented, is another significant attempt by AstraZeneca in the traditional Chinese medicine industry after reaching a promotion cooperation agreement with GreenLeaf Group for Lipid Health.

In 2019, AstraZeneca signed an agreement with Luye Pharma Group to obtain the exclusive promotion rights for the LipidCare capsule in mainland China. This marks the first time a large multinational pharmaceutical company has been authorized to promote an innovative traditional Chinese medicine prescription drug independently developed by a Chinese pharmaceutical company in China. From 2019 to the end of 2021, the sales volume of LipidCare increased by nearly 120%, making it the third-largest lipid-lowering brand in the overall statin and lipid-lowering traditional Chinese medicine market.

Wang Lei revealed to the reporter: "The headquarters production base of Lipid Health is under construction in Chengdu Tianfu International Bio City and will be put into operation next year." The reporter learned that also in Chengdu Tianfu International Bio City, the National Traditional Chinese Medicine Inheritance and Innovation Base and Achievements Transformation Production Base, invested and constructed by the Sichuan Academy of Traditional Chinese Medicine Sciences, is under construction and is expected to be completed by the end of this year.

Starting from the areas of expertise, there is a tendency towards single-ingredient medicinal materials.

According to the signing agreement, the AstraZeneca Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) Innovation Industry Base that has been established this time will focus on the modernization of TCM industry. Relying on the guidance of academician experts in scientific research transformation and industrial development, it aims to build a one-stop TCM incubation industry empowerment platform, including a new type of R&D institution, a modern innovative TCM industry service platform, a one-stop TCM clinical R&D transformation platform, and a modern TCM commercial platform.

Wang Lei told the reporter that specifically, AstraZeneca's Chengdu Traditional Chinese Medicine Base will leverage its international platform and resources to focus on the therapeutic areas that AstraZeneca has long been committed to. It will engage in four key areas of work: introducing achievements, clinical and evidence-based transformation, production and manufacturing, and commercial operation.

"At present, traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) is mainly divided into three categories: First, single-formula and modernized; second, time-tested prescriptions like Liuwei Dihuang Pills that have been used for thousands of years; third, personalized treatment with one formula per person," said Wang Lei. From the perspective of TCM modernization, medicines must be standardized. The quality of raw materials for TCM can be affected by multiple factors such as soil in the place of origin, harvesting time, and climate. Therefore, it is preferable to use raw materials with relatively simple components that can be produced on a large scale continuously. "Thus, we tend to favor single-herb formulas, which allow for better standardization in the cultivation of medicinal herbs and achieve stable efficacy."

From the perspective of treatment stages, Wang Lei believes that, taking tumors as an example, traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) can play a role in all three key phases: prevention (treating pre-disease conditions), adjuvant therapy (alleviating adverse reactions to chemotherapy and radiotherapy), and post-treatment rehabilitation.

Currently, AstraZeneca's Traditional Chinese Medicine Innovation Industrial Base has advanced project cooperation with institutions such as the Sichuan Academy of Traditional Chinese Medicine Sciences, West China Hospital of Sichuan University, and Chengdu University of Traditional Chinese Medicine. It has also initiated对接with several academicians and TCM experts for the transformation of achievements and project settlement, successfully introducing the TCM CRO-Guangzhou HiBot into the base.

Multinational pharmaceutical companies accelerate the promotion of the development of the traditional Chinese medicine industry

Industry insiders believe that foreign enterprises entering the field of traditional Chinese medicine have gone through three stages - the raw material procurement period, the initial observation period, and the beginning of the cooperation period. In recent years, several multinational pharmaceutical companies have started to strengthen their presence in the third stage.

In addition to AstraZeneca, according to media reports, multinational pharmaceutical companies such as Sanofi and Boehringer Ingelheim have also ventured into the Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) industry. In 2014, Boehringer Ingelheim reached a cooperation agreement with Guangzhou Pharmaceutical Holdings to jointly promote the latter's Xiao'er Qixing Tea Syrup; in 2015, Boehringer Ingelheim announced the official launch of its first OTC TCM product, Leketong.

Wang Lei said that multinational pharmaceutical companies have a history of research and development in botanical drugs spanning over a hundred years, which has led to the creation of medicines like Aspirin and Tamiflu. In Japan, the sale of Kampo medicines is also very popular.

"Now, China's botanical medicines are also starting to gain some influence worldwide. For instance, Xuezhikang has already made its way overseas and is being sold abroad, though currently, it is primarily in Asian countries. The next step will be to initiate registration applications in more countries," said Wang Lei. In the future, AstraZeneca is committed to advancing the modernization of more traditional Chinese medicine products while promoting traditional Chinese medicine to more countries around the world.

A relevant official from the Biomedical Industry Development Bureau of Chengdu High-tech Zone said that with the aggravation of China's aging population and the increase in chronic disease incidence, Traditional Chinese Medicine’s (TCM) "preventive treatment" has created significant domestic market demand. At the same time, China's TCM enterprises are continuously exploring ways to "go global" and expand into overseas markets. Multinational pharmaceutical companies can leverage their industry standing, international platforms, and industrial resources to assist local TCM enterprises in accelerating innovation and promoting internationalization. Meanwhile, how to better utilize the advantages of leading enterprises in the supply chain for resource integration and capital support is also a key focus of the current government efforts to promote industrial development and strengthen industrial chains.

The person in charge said that in the field of traditional Chinese medicine, Chengdu High-tech Zone has gathered key traditional Chinese medicine production and manufacturing enterprises such as Dio Pharmaceutical, Huashen Group, and Sichuan New Lotus, with key products like Sanqi Shu Capsules, Dio Xin Xue Kang, and Astragalus Tablets. "Taking the opportunity of AstraZeneca's establishment of a traditional Chinese medicine innovation industrial base, Chengdu High-tech Zone will improve the upstream and downstream layout around the leading enterprises, promote the innovation and upgrading of the traditional Chinese medicine industry, and continuously improve the ecosystem of the pharmaceuticals and health industry."