New over-the-counter drugs based on Chinese medicine to hit UK chemis

Phynova beats big pharma to market with its Western take on Chinese medicine, becoming first company to win EU regulatory approval

A small Oxford-based company has become the first European drug maker to bring traditional Chinese medicine to the Western market, launching two EU-certified products this year before any of the big pharmaceutical giants managed to move into the potentially lucrative market.

Phynova’s joint and muscle relief tablet was given the green light in March, while its cold and flu remedy is likely to get the go-ahead within the next few months.

“This is a big milestone for us and for Chinese medicines as a whole,” said chief executive Robert Miller, who founded the company 10 years ago. “The market for natural products is huge. Just walk into any Boots store and you’ll see the shelves across from the tills are full of supplements and natural products, which tells you they are best-sellers.”

In 2004, the EU issued the Traditional Herbal Medicinal Products Directive, which demanded that all products of this nature conformed to strict new guidelines by May 2011. “You may still see products around, being sold through Chinese herb shops, but technically they are not supposed to be sold any more,” says Mr Miller.

This directive created a big opportunity for Phynova, which immediately began investigating the 10,000 traditional herbs used in Chinese medicine for active compounds that could become new drugs or cosmetics.

It has taken three years to secure approval for a joint and muscle medicine, and Mr Miller hopes that Phynova’s future products will be faster to market.

The company is in talks with national chemist chains and supermarkets to stock its products, which are all “over the counter”.

Its follow-up product, derived from the Isatis group of plants, is a preventative cold and flu remedy, which can be taken at the onset of symptoms.

“It is based on a Chinese medicine, which is the most popular over-the-counter drug in China,” claimed Mr Miller. “We’ve taken the Chinese format, which wasn’t palatable to Western customers, and turned it into a lemon-flavoured sachet product that you add hot water to.”

Phynova is hoping that this new product will give Lemsip a run for its money. It has been developed in partnership with Chinese company Xiangxue Pharmaceuticals, which is listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. “I met the chairman, Mr Wong, eight years ago,” said Mr Miller. “We will collaborate with them on a number of products.”

Mr Miller credits his company’s long-standing relationship with the Chinese pharmaceutical industry for Phynova’s ability to beat the pharma giants to market.

It operates an unusual model, tapping into labs at universities around the world to develop drugs, rather than investing in costly equipment to do it in-house.

The angel-backed company has spent £14m developing its pharmaceuticals pipeline.

Big pharma is already hot on Phynova’s heels: Glaxo-Smith-Kline currently has a research base in Shanghai looking at traditional Chinese medicines as a source for new drugs.

GSK’s relationship with China went sour after a two-year investigation by Chinese authorities uncovered a bribery and corruption scandal; it was fined £300m last year.

“We’re small, nimble and half of our people are Chinese,” says Mr Miller. “We have a subsidiary company in China and the working relationship has always been a productive one.”

Mr Miller, a lifelong fan of traditional Chinese medicine, was reluctant to give revenue forecasts for Phynova, claiming that it was too early to tell. However, the first product will be on sale at the end of this month “and we know lots of people want to buy it”.

The company will not just sell its new take on traditional Chinese medicines in the UK, it will also be introducing them back to the Chinese market and is currently registering its products in Germany and France.

“Germany is the second-largest herbal medicine market in the world, second only to China,” said Mr Miller, whose aim is to change the perception of Chinese medicine across Europe.

“People think it’s witchcraft or unscientific nonsense,” he says. “We are going to do it in a way that complies with all Western medicines.” 

The source of the report is here.