Chinese medicine (CM), with its thousands of years of cultural heritage, presents us with unmatched opportunities for research, as well as product and business development in the health food and pharmaceutical industries.
The majority of the Hong Kong population is Chinese and the local CM industry also has a long history of business practices. Given our unique geographical location and close relationship with the Mainland, we have been able to leverage the Mainland’s abundant CM resources and related experience in CM research and application. The number of CM research projects in collaboration between Mainland and Hong Kong is on the rise and increasingly local enterprises and investors have shown their business interest in this area.
Over the past few years, the HKSAR Government has funded numerous CM-related research and infrastructure projects through the Innovation and Technology Fund (ITF) and the Research Grant Council (RGC) funding (including the Areas of Excellence programme), amounting to over HK$150 million. Such funding has enabled universities to fully equip their R&D facilities and build research capabilities in pre-clinical and clinical research, CM processing, as well as the characterisation and quality control of CM.
As regards international collaboration, the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM) in the US intents to set up International Centers for Research on Complementary and Alternative Medicine to undertake research on the efficacy of traditional medicine originating from different cultures. The Chinese University of Hong Kong is one of the Centres’ overseas partners to receive its first phase of funding for collaborative projects.
Hong Kong Jockey Club Institute of Chinese Medicine (HKJCICM)
HKJCICM is set up by the HKSAR Government as the local focal point for action and coordination to steer on Chinese medicine development. It was formed as a subsidiary of the Applied Science and Technology Research Institute (ASTRI). Thanks to the support of ASTRI – a major government-funded technology infrastructure in Hong Kong – we have shared resources on a host of business and administrative support functions. This arrangement allows us to focus on strategic planning, management of projects, information and intellectual properties, and business development. The Hong Kong Jockey Club (HKJC) Charities Trust has pledged HK$500 million (or about US$64 million) to support research and development projects and specific activities.
Serving as a strategic platform, we support value-added development of CM through strengthening its R&D, quality control and commerciali sation of research outputs. Our work therefore contributes towards raising the quality of CM products and enhancing the science and evidence-base, quality control and intellectual property of CM. According to the on-going policy initiatives of the Chief Executive’s Policy Addresses 2003 and 2004, the HKSAR Government is committed to further the development of HKJCICM as a centre of excellence in pioneering science and evidence-based CM. Since its establishment, we have laid a good foundation for CM development in Hong Kong .
With the support from our advisors, our project management and research teams have acquired invaluable and first-hand experience in areas relating to e.g. development of quality control methodologies and pharmacological research on CM. After stringent appraisal of projects, our Portfolio now consists of nine R&D projects with local universities and Mainland research establishments. Six of those projects are related to development of medicine, two for quality control and one for information exchange. Through R&D project management and implementation, we have gained better understanding of the Hong Kong and Mainland regulations on Chinese medicines.
 On the other hand, we have set up a Chinese Medicine Laboratory and associated research network. The purpose of which is to strengthen CM pharmacognosy and phytochemistry research of our funded projects and to support the industry. The Laboratory undertakes and co-ordinates the collection and authentication of CM herbs, research into the quality of CM and preparation of good quality extracts and samples for research, including the identification and purification of active principles and structural analysis. Considering that all CM R&D projects involve quality control and extract preparation, the Laboratory, staffed by experienced scientists, will help strengthen the CM research capabilities and the quality of our funded research. We have developed good partnerships with local universities and Mainland institutes. Through our expanding research network and the adoption of rigorous research methodologies and quality assurance practices, we aim to support the industry to develop high quality and competitive CM products and to meet local, Mainland and overseas regulatory requirements.
Furthermore, we have identified endocrinology and neuroscience as key CM research areas for focused development. These foci reflect HKJC’s commitment in elderly care and address some issues relating to the aging population. By adopting the platform concept, we focus our research efforts on areas with unmet medical needs. Our work aligns with the HKSAR government’s policy of integrating CM into the existing medical system and allows us to leverage on the research capabilities and overall technology infrastructure in Hong Kong, and the CM market potential. By impinging on the holistic approach of CM in modulating body functions, we aim to investigate CM for preventing and treating complex conditions like metabolic syndrome and other CNS-related illnesses. Besides, we have developed a web-based trilingual platform to disseminate the latest research, regulatory and industry-relevant information. Our Newsletters also cover key CM developments within and outside Hong Kong and topics of relevance for industry development.
Under the Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement (“CEPA”) agreement signed between the Mainland and HKSAR Governments, we will continue to work with the Governments in promoting and strengthening Mainland-Hong Kong and international collaborations in CM. The two sides have also signed an agreement recently to form a joint committee to further strengthen exchange and co-operation in a variety of science and technology areas, including CM. With the support from the HKSAR Government, we will foster closer linkages with the Ministry of Science and Technology, the State Administration for Traditional Chinese Medicine and the State Food and Drug Administration.
Being a learning organization, we will continue to enhance our corporate competencies and effectiveness in the coordination and use of resources and public funds so as to contribute towards realizing the Chief Executive’s vision to position Hong Kong as a world centre for the development of health food and pharmaceuticals based on Chinese medicine.
Hong Kong Jockey Club Institute of Chinese Medicine Limited
May 2004
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I. Development of medicines based on TCM 
In spite of having a relatively short history of CM research and development (R&D), Hong Kong has unique advantages which will support CM development, for example, our geographical location, international outlook, availability of capitals, technology and information infrastructure, bilingual languages and a Chinese culture. We adopt legal and medical systems similar to those of the West and Hong Kong enjoys a good international reputation. Furthermore, researchers are familiar with global requirements for the R&D of botanical and chemical drugs. With the use of advanced technology and quality control methodologies associated with development of medicines, the R&D outputs and products developed stand better chance to be accepted by the international communities. In addition, with the emerging regulations in intellectual property protection and the signed international trade protection agreements, Hong Kong provides mechanisms for intellectual property protection and trade facilitation across the innovation and product R&D value chain. It also has a pool of talents with good marketing experience and understanding of the pharmaceutical and healthcare markets. Together with our good distribution networks, the industry is well poised to undertake market development within and outside Hong Kong.
For CM R&D strategies, Hong Kong will make reference to the experience gained within and outside the Mainland and will strive to fulfill the technical requirements of the State Food and Drugs Administration (SFDA) of China and the Food and Drugs Administration (FDA) of the USA. The SFDA has a long history and much experience in regulating CM in the world. The CM regulations not only combine traditional theory of CM, but also invite the use of modern medical sciences and technology for the development of medicines. The FDA is regarded as the world’s most authoritative science-based regulator of medicines. The Draft Guidance for Botanical Drug Products, published in 2000, aims to embrace the characteristics of botanical medicines and the chemical approach of drug development. With the technical guidelines provided by the two regulators and the aforementioned advantages that Hong Kong possesses, we would strive to create successful R&D cases.