Headquartered in Hong Kong, Hua Han specializes in traditional antiaging and antitumor Chinese drugs for women, which it sells under the Yeosure brand.
As a result, AstraZeneca has become the largest pharmaceutical multinational in Chinese prescription drugs.
The Hong Kong company aims to strike gold by expanding the global appeal of traditional Chinese medicines and by using modern drug development methods to unearth new drugs within Chinese medicinal herbs.
It was a legacy of the apparently systematic use of drugs by Chinese swimmers in the 1990s.
In the past decade major problems with Chinese-made food and drugs has led to thousands of deaths, mostly in China itself, but many in rich countries too, including at least 150 deaths in the U.S. from counterfeits of the drug heparin.
FORBES: Chinese Mothers Risk Arrest For Buying Safe Baby Formula
MediPharma has two drugs derived from Chinese herbs in midstage clinical trials in the U.S., one to improve the potency of radiation therapy on head and neck cancer and the other to treat Crohn's disease, an inflammation of the digestive tract.
Recently, tests found that 15 percent of Chinese fish imports had traces of the banned drugs.
"This is a very positive development that will enable American law enforcement to work more closely with Chinese officials to help fight the flow of overseas drugs into the United States, " she said.
Sales of the Chinese medicines should cover the development costs of the Western-style drugs.
It is almost 125 years since authorities in San Francisco launched an early salvo in the western war on drugs by clamping down on opium use among the growing population of Chinese labourers.
As well as humans for work or sex (another area of competitive advantage for women entrepreneurs), the Chinese pay for medicinal herbs foraged in North Korea's hills, furs and drugs (methamphetamines).
Since then, and "despite extensive communications between FDA and appropriate Chinese authorities to correct the problem, we have continued to find residues of certain veterinary drugs or food additives that are not permitted for use in the United States, " she added.
Chinese standards have been under scrutiny after a number of scandals involving poor-quality or fake drugs and food.
Now Yunnan is giving the process a Chinese touch: a law is being drafted that will render community leaders responsible if their charges go back to drugs.
ECONOMIST: How one enlightened Chinese province deals with addiction
应用推荐