The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) Innovation and
Technology Commission has awarded a grant to a private company and
local university for a joint research project to improve a Chinese
herbal injection formula.
SIIC Medical Science and Technology Group and the University of
Hong Kong (HKU) have been awarded a total funding of 5.07 million
Hong Kong dollars (US$650,000) to define the bioactive components
of Shenmai injection and their mechanisms of action, a press
release issued by the university said.
Shenmai injection is currently manufactured by Chiatai Qingchunbao
Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd in Hangzhou, it said.
Clinically used in the mainland for heart disease as well as a
supplement for cancer therapy, sales of this product reached 14.6
million vials last year, it said.
Siow Yaw-Loong and O Karmin from the HKU's Department of
Pharmacology will team up with Professor Zhu Da-Yuan of the
Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica and Chinese Academy of
Sciences to add scientific value to the product and help increase
its quality to an international standard.
(Xinhua News
Agency May 3, 2002)