CHINA HEALTH SCIENCES NEWSLETTER
Vol. 3 , No.15 - June 26, 2002
TOPICS THIS ISSUE:
- China Opens First Drug Safety Evaluation Center
- Six Humans Simulated for Medical Use
- China's First Genotype ID Card
- Industry Shake-Up to Create 5-10 Medicine Distributors
- Xinjiang Starts to Build "Medicine Valley"
China Opens First Drug Safety Evaluation Center
Beijing has recently seen the unveiling of its first drug safety evaluation institute, which it is hoped will ensure the safety of medicines available.
As a Sino-Japanese friendship project in public health, the National Center for Safety Evaluation of Drugs (NCSED) is intended to meet the requirements of the Good Laboratory Practice for Nonclinical Laboratory Studies.
The Chinese government with equipment and technological assistance provided by the Japanese government and the Japan International Cooperation Agency funds the NCSED.
Since it started trial operations in December 2001, NCSED has already carried out safety evaluations on several drugs in accordance with international standards.
An official with China's State Drug Administration said that the Chinese government has always attached great importance to the safety of drugs. The newly amended Pharmaceuticals Control Law of China has set clear regulations concerning drugs safety evaluation and administration, he said.
(Source: Xinhua)
Six Humans Simulated for Medical Use
Diagnosis and treatments that cannot be tested on people can now be tested on virtual humans instead. According to professor Lin Daquan of Sichuan University who participated in the project, the most important preparatory work on six virtual human models (the project) has been completed by using bionic materials.
The project was initiated by the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Peking University and Tsinghua University and will be formally proposed to the State Ministry of Science and Technology by the end of this month.
The project means to gather anatomical and physiological information and then to develop a computer program from which diagnoses and treatments can be tested before being clinically applied.
Now that the initial software platform has been successfully set up, it will be used in some Beijing hospitals to help make diagnosis and map out operation plans, according to Professor Lin. The next step is to establish a data bank for the human shape and function, and to form digitized human models, Professor Lin said.
The project has so far developed six human models using bionic materials, including three "children" at the "age" of 3, 6 and 9 respectively, as well as a pregnant woman. More models will be produced to bring together the digitized models for data comparison.
It is estimated that is will take a further 3 to 4 years before a virtual human could be used in clinical diagnosis, treatment and rehabilitation, which will on the whole, it is hoped, help raise the medical and health standards of the Chinese people.
(Source: People's Daily)
China's First Genotype ID Card
Recently, Hubei Province's saw its first "genotype ID card" with its manufacture at the South-central Hospital Gene Diagnostic Center at Wuhan University. The genotype ID card, which can distinguish the certificate-holder from the world's other 6 billion people, is to date China's first genotype ID card with 18 genetic locus, a locus being the position that a given gene occupies on a chromosome.
This color genotype ID card, roughly twice the size of ordinary ID card, can accommodate data including a photo, birth date, nationality and gender. In particular it is marked with 18 internationally used genetic locus, which are chosen from the long chain of human cytogenetic information carrier DNA molecules. In the combination of the 18 genetic locus, with the exception of identical twins, the probability of 2 people having identical genetic locus is approximately 1 in 10 billion.
(Source: People's Daily)
Industry Shake-Up to Create 5-10 Medicine Distributors
The Chinese government has recently announced plans to create between five and ten giant medicine-distribution companies within the next five years, as part of a shake-up designed to help the medicine distribution industry cope with challenges following the nation's entry into the World Trade Organization (WTO).
The restructure plan is in response to problems in China's fragmented medicine distribution industry and is an attempt to enhance its competitiveness during the post-WTO-entry era. Currently, there are some 17,000 wholesale companies in China's drug market, only ten of these companies generate annual sales of more than US $120 million.
(Source: World Markets Analysis)
Xinjiang Starts to Build "Medicine Valley"
Construction of the Tianshan Medicine Valley, a biomedical/bioengineering high-tech industrial zone, has begun in northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. Tianshan Medicine Valley is a project jointly financed by the Urumqi High and New Technology Industrial Development Zone and the Huachun Group and it will join with top Chinese universities in researching and developing medicines.
Investment in the zone will total RMB 1.39 billion. Developers expect the zone to develop into a world-leading biomedical/bioengineering zone with top-level infrastructure and facilities.
Statistics show that within the Xinjiang region there are over 2,200 kinds of herbal, animal and mineral resources that have medicinal applications. Over 30% of China's commonly used medicinal herbs can be found in Xinjiang.
(Source: Xinhua)
Lehman Lee & Xu
China Lawyers, Notaries, Patent, Copyright and Trademark Agents
http://www.lehmanlaw.com
Beijing Office | Shanghai Office |
6th floor, Dongwai Diplomatic Office Building
23 Dongzhimenwai Dajie
Beijing 100600 China
Tel.: (86)(10) 8532-1919
Fax: (86)(10) 8532-1999
Email: mail@lehmanlaw.com | Suite 5107A, Plaza 66
No. 1266, West Nanjing Road
Shanghai 200040 China Tel: (86)(21) 6288-2698
Fax:(86)(21) 6288-2699
Email: shanghai@lehmanlaw.com |
The China Health Sciences Newsletter is intended to be used for news purposes only. It should not be taken as comprehensive legal advice, and Lehman, Lee & Xu will not be held responsible for any such reliance on its contents.
