Traditional Chinese medicine is a treasure of Chinese civilization. The Third Plenary Session of the 20th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China explicitly mentioned the need to "improve the mechanism for inheriting, innovating, and developing traditional Chinese medicine." For enterprises in the field of traditional Chinese medicine, how can they do a good job in the creative transformation and innovative development of traditional Chinese medicine?

On December 11th, at the "New Ecology, New Future -2024 China Pharmaceutical and Health Industry Summit Forum" hosted by China Business News, focusing on the inheritance and innovation of traditional Chinese medicine, Wu Rui, the secretary of Shijiazhuang Yiling Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Yiling Pharmaceutical", 002603. SZ), stated that the foundation of traditional Chinese medicine innovation lies in theoretical innovation, which can drive subsequent prescription innovation and production process innovation in the research and development stage.
Wu Rui introduced that for Yiling Pharmaceutical, the innovation of traditional Chinese medicine theory has guided its new drug research and development, and also has an important guiding role in clinical practice. Based on the theoretical system of network diseases, Ling Pharmaceutical's new drug research and development has been carried out in several major disease areas for therapeutic efficacy in clinical practice. As of now, 14 innovative traditional Chinese medicines have been approved, covering cardiovascular, respiratory, endocrine and other fields, and continuous attempts and explorations have been made in other disease areas.
The development of traditional Chinese medicine has always faced certain challenges. Wu Rui said that in the past two to three years, the industry has experienced certain fluctuations, and enterprises in different roles and links of the industry chain need time to adjust and adapt to the changes in industrial development. Whether it is prescription drugs within the hospital or products with consumer attributes in the external market, Yiling Pharmaceutical also faces some specific problems. Based on this, the company has taken measures to adjust its marketing system for the internal market and establish academic, social, and other dimensions of branding for the external market. There is a fundamental difference between drugs and ordinary consumer goods. Regardless of the fluctuations and changes in the industry, good therapeutic effects are the foundation for product growth and strength. Enterprises need to cultivate their internal strength in this process, consolidate the academic chain of their products, and provide comprehensive scientific evidence as much as possible, so that they can have good evidence support in clinical promotion.
Wu Rui shared that as a traditional Chinese medicine production enterprise, the cycle of rising and falling prices of Chinese medicinal materials will affect the profit level of the enterprise. In this process, the enterprise also needs to improve its management level, such as expanding the scale of the production base, controlling the quality of medicinal materials while reducing procurement costs, improving management efficiency, output efficiency, and other supporting work. While doing academic work well, the enterprise also needs to improve its management level.
The research and development investment of innovative traditional Chinese medicine drugs is not cheap, and Ling Pharmaceutical has made significant investments in evidence-based medicine research. Wu Rui introduced that Yiling Pharmaceutical has been continuously investing in the research and development of innovative traditional Chinese medicine drugs. Innovative traditional Chinese medicine has entered a new stage of development, and the government attaches great importance to it at the policy level. It also supports the innovation of traditional Chinese medicine in the research and development evaluation system. Yiling Pharmaceutical has always advocated that innovation in traditional Chinese medicine comes from clinical practice. Many new drug development prescriptions have been clinically validated for a long time in its tertiary hospitals, which is in line with the "theoretical basis+human experience+clinical trials" model advocated by the national new drug review. The research and development process respects the objective laws of traditional Chinese medicine clinical practice and new drug development. Wu Rui stated that he hopes to continuously improve the product launch team in the future to ensure the company's sustained growth.
The results of evidence-based trials in traditional Chinese medicine have always been a concern in the industry, and whether they can be recognized through evidence-based trials is a practical dilemma faced by many Chinese medicine companies. Wu Rui introduced that Western medicine experts account for about 80% of the resources. If Chinese medicine varieties want to compete with Western medicine varieties, it is necessary to have Western medicine experts recognize the efficacy of Chinese medicine products and recommend them to patients for clinical use. Many Western medicine experts do not understand the reasons for the composition and innovation of the formula, but recognize the experimental data of the product. Based on the current industry situation, Yiling Pharmaceutical has been conducting evidence-based trials on its main varieties since 1995, using a recognized and most scientifically rigorous evidence-based trial system to verify the efficacy of traditional Chinese medicine products. And introduce the characteristics and theoretical basis of the formula to traditional Chinese medicine experts, and provide evidence-based experimental data to Western medicine experts.