Campus Digest

HKBU establishes Centre for Chinese Herbal Medicine Drug Development to enhance the creation of novel Chinese medicine drugs in Hong Kong

23 Dec 2021

 
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At the Centre’s officiating ceremony (left to right): Professor Lyu Aiping, Dean of Chinese Medicine; Professor Guo Yike, Vice-President (Research and Development); Professor Alexander Wai, President and Vice-Chancellor; Professor Rick Wong, Interim Provost; and Professor Bian Zhaoxiang, Associate Vice-President (Chinese Medicine Development) and Director of the Clinical Division of the School of Chinese Medicine at HKBU, who is also the Director of the CDD.
Professor Bian Zhaoxiang, Director (right), and Dr Lin Chengyuan, Senior Scientific Officer of the CDD (left), said the Centre can handle the entire research and development process for Chinese medicine drugs in a one-stop manner.
The ultra high-performance liquid chromatography with Quadrupole – Time of Flight System is a valuable tool for traditional Chinese medicine components and metabolomic profiling.
The Centre’s fully automatic and compact multi chamber tissue bath system is used to measure the function of isolated organs or tissues after administration of drugs.

HKBU has established the Centre for Chinese Herbal Medicine Drug Development (CDD), which is equipped with comprehensive and cutting-edge facilities that can enhance Hong Kong's ability to develop novel Chinese medicine (CM) drugs according to market demands. It will also standardise and internationalise the development of CM drugs, and nurture talent for the industry. The Centre is currently working on two novel CM drug research projects that focus on chronic constipation and inflammatory bowel disease, respectively.


Located within the Hong Kong Science Park, the CDD was established with funding from the InnoHK initiative under the Innovation and Technology Commission of the HKSAR Government. The Centre's vision is to translate traditional CM wisdom into pharmaceutical products with the best global partners using international standards. 


The Centre was officially opened on 22 December at a ceremony, which is the only integrated CM drug research and development centre supported by InnoHK and established and operated by a local university. In line with the entire research and development process for CM drugs, the Centre has set up six research platforms, including the Clinical Data Science Group, the Gut Microbiota and Metabolism Group, the Immunology and Gut Inflammation Group, the Chinese Medicine Pharmacognosy Group, the AI-driven Drug Discovery Group and the Drug Application Group. The research platforms can work together to handle the entire research and development process for new CM drugs, or they can work independently to conduct related preclinical or clinical studies for a specific CM formula.


Please click here for details.