China improves quality control of Chinese medicines

. 

. 

. 

. 

. 

. 

. 

. 

. 

. 

. 

. 

. 

. 

. 

. 

. 

. 

. 

. 

. 

. 

. 

. 

. 

. 

. 

. 

 ◆ China improves quality control of Chinese medicines

Chinese scientists have made a breakthrough in developing techniques for quality control of Chinese medicines, a senior medical expert said on Monday.

The computer aided technology analyzed the "fingerprint," or distinguishing traits peculiar to each type of medicine, according to Qian Zhongzhi, director of the Chinese medicine department of the national pharmacopeia committee.

The technology was able to scrutinize overall quality, instead of simply checking a few ingredients of each kind of medicine, Qian said.

The current quality control model for Chinese medicine was borrowed from that for chemical drugs, or analyzing certain compounds in drugs. This method is effective for chemical drugs made of single element or few compounds, but unreliable for Chinese medicines whose curative effects depend not on single active compounds, but all active substances combined.

The technology helped solve the key issue of standardization of Chinese medicine and would promote worldwide acceptance of Chinese medicine and protection of intellectual property, experts said.