An Empirical Study On The Effectiveness of Botanical drugs Research Platform
Date Issued
2006
Date
2006
Author(s)
M.D., Yen Chung-Yang
DOI
zh-TW
Abstract
In recent years, botanical drugs have become more and more popular in western countries. Global sales for botanical drugs exceeded 20 billion US dollars in 2005. China, Japan, South Korea, Germany, and the United States are the primary countries for the development of botanical drugs in Asia, Europe, and America, which are the leading areas for botanical drugs worldwide. Taiwan has also invested in the research and development of botanical drugs in recent years in order to create a competitive edge for the country in the field of botanical drugs. The Executive Yuan approved the Promotion Plan for the Biotechnology Industry and founded the Biotechnology and Pharmaceutical Industries Program Office to transform Taiwan into a primary development center for the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries.
The most challenging issues for globalization of the development of botanical drugs lie in the areas of quality control and stringent clinical trials. The complexity and technical barriers for clinical trials of botanical drugs are much higher than for those of western medicine. The raw materials for botanical drugs come from natural plants. Therefore, the autonomic diversities, sources, pharmacological activities, and active components of the raw materials depend on the sharing and learning of experiences from ancient Chinese medical texts, to help deal with incomplete information that lacks stringent scientific validation.
This study investigated critical issues for the globalization of botanical drugs from pre-clinical studies of botanical drugs. Pre-clinical safety evaluation and quality conformity for botanical drugs were identified as the critical factors for the development of botanical drugs in the future. Investigation from the perspective of knowledge collaboration revealed that vertical research by independent research centers could utilize professional efficiency, but did not create the benefit of collaboration. It was deemed necessary to establish efficient professional clinical services and employ knowledge collaboration to meet future demands in the fundamental pre-clinical study of botanical drugs.
The present study used a platform of high-throughput screening for the antiviral mechanism of botanical drugs to analyze the position of the value chain of supportive industries from the perspective of fundamental research. The present study discovered that simply fitting Chinese medicine into the framework of western medicine, combining the separate architectures of Chinese medicine and western medicine, would result in a loss of value for botanical drugs. A knowledge management platform of substantial value to botanical drugs can be constructed based on the management competence of a knowledge database and platform during a course of fundamental research and through standard procedures for pre-clinical analysis to accumulate validated data related to botanical drugs.
The position and contribution of the research platform in the value chain of supportive industries may not provide any benefit for the accomplishment of current research due to the misperceptions of the academic community and the industrial sector. Therefore, knowledge collaboration has become another critical factor to be taken into consideration along with technical collaboration or transfer. An open research platform and integrated collaboration of technology and knowledge will allow fundamental research of botanical drugs to provide substantial value. As a result, research can combine with the industrial value chain to increase the feasibility of the international development of botanical drugs.
Subjects
中草藥
臨床前研究平台
知識合作
產業價值鏈
botanical drugs
pre-clinical studies
knowledge collaboration
industrial value chain
Type
other
File(s)![Thumbnail Image]()
Loading...
Name
ntu-95-P93743014-1.pdf
Size
23.31 KB
Format
Adobe PDF
Checksum
(MD5):d4eb07de03d5b7c8adbb6f8eadba29fa