Merck to pirate Traditional Chinese Medicine compounds to develop new drugs

[Guest guest]

Hi all,

 

Taken from:

http://www.chinesemedicinetimes.com/page.php?xPage=news.html#news13

 

German pharmaceutical giant Merck announced last week that it would

collaborate with a Chinese pharmaceutical company to develop new cancer

drugs based on traditional Chinese herbs and botanical medicines.

 

Hong Kong-based Chi-Med -- a pharmaceutical firm that develops consumer

health products from natural ingredients used in Traditional Chinese

Medicine (TCM) -- said it will team with Merck to find potential cancer

drugs among roughly 10,000 herbal TCM compounds. However, critics say the

partnership will only serve to allow Merck to generate more profits from

" pirated " natural plant chemicals sold as expensive pharmaceuticals.

 

Consumer health advocate Mike Adams, author of " Take Back Your Health

Power, " said Merck's partnership with Chi-Med would result in the company

locating, copying and patenting chemicals found in Chinese herbs, then

selling them as prescription drugs.

 

" When Chinese firms steal intellectual property from the United States, we

call it piracy, but when drug companies acquire medical know-how from

Chinese medicine, it's called research, " Adams said. " But let's be clear

here -- I don't believe Merck is about to start promoting Chinese herbal

cures for anything.

 

" Merck is most likely looking for molecules it can identify, modify and

patent as pharmaceuticals, " he said. " If it finds anything that works, the

medicines will likely be sold as Western drugs, not Chinese medicine, and

the FDA will continue its assault on herbal medicine even as it approves

drugs based on herbal medicine. "

 

Ulrich Betz, head of strategic innovation and research portfolio management

at Merck, said the company is eager to begin a " productive collaboration "

with Chi-Med. " It will allow us to extend our interaction with the emerging

Chinese pharmaceutical industry that builds on longstanding tradition and

knowledge combined with modern scientific technology, " he said.

 

Merck's collaboration is one of many attempts by Western pharmaceutical

companies to increase their presence in China. Swiss drug firm Novartis

recently announced plans to open a $100 million Western research and

development facility in Shanghai.

 

However, Adams says rich Western pharmaceutical companies will take

advantage of the generosity and cost-effectiveness of TCM therapies.

 

" In my opinion, this [collaboration] is nothing more than greedy

corporations exploiting the generous, open-source nature of Chinese

medicine, " Adams said. " It is the Western world's piracy of Eastern wisdom,

and it is only being done because drug companies have realized that

Western-developed medicines are far more dangerous, and don't work nearly as

well as Chinese medicine. "

 

 

Kind regards,

 

Attilio D'Alberto

Doctor of (Beijing, China)

BSc (Hons) TCM, MATCM

Editor

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