Question 1: Over-exploitation has led to the endangerment of traditional Chinese medicine resources, not to mention animal-based traditional Chinese medicines such as bear bile, tiger bones, rhino horns, etc. that have been included in the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES). As far as herbal medicine is concerned, China's Chinese herbal medicine resources are no longer optimistic. Inner Mongolia was once an important licorice producing area in the world. In the past, licorice could be found everywhere in Inner Mongolia. Now, 2/3 of the places have lost licorice, and the remaining 1/3 is of low quantity and poor quality. There are many reasons for this phenomenon. Due to over-exploitation, grazing, large-scale deforestation, accelerated urbanization and other reasons, China's Chinese herbal medicine resources are being significantly reduced.
China exports mostly raw medicinal materials with low price and low added value, and the proportion of finished medicines is less than 30%. However, Japan and South Korea, which account for 90% of the world’s Chinese herbal medicine market share, use 80% of their raw materials for traditional Chinese medicine from China. Imported. Foreign companies not only purchase large quantities of Chinese herbal medicines, but also plunder the genetic resources of Chinese herbal medicines, which also affects the intellectual property protection of Chinese herbal medicines. In addition, many foreign businessmen have taken advantage of various opportunities for non-governmental exchanges, business inspections and even travel to intensify their search for secret Chinese medicine recipes and folk remedies.
The protection of traditional Chinese medicine resources has reached an urgent level. Otherwise, when Chinese medicine can finally go to the world, there will be no "Chinese medicine" that can "go to the world." It is recommended to incorporate the protection of Chinese herbal medicine resources into China's sustainable development strategy, strengthen the public's awareness of the protection of Chinese herbal medicine, and strictly prohibit indiscriminate mining, deforestation, land reclamation, overgrazing and other behaviors that damage Chinese herbal medicine resources.
Problem 2: Low-level duplication of construction leads to a vicious cycle
Most of China’s traditional Chinese medicine companies, which are the main players in the market, have been developed in the past ten years. Their asset scale is relatively small and their innovation capabilities are relatively low. Poor. Although the production technology of traditional Chinese medicine has improved to some extent in recent years, it is still far from the high-quality and standard production requirements of the modern pharmaceutical industry. It has not yet fundamentally got rid of the "workshop-style" production situation and lacks unified and strict standards and regulations. . Many traditional Chinese medicine manufacturers have the problem of low-level duplication of construction, with several companies producing the same proprietary Chinese medicine. Under low-level duplication of construction, product market competition has become increasingly fierce. Manufacturers have no other choice but to engage in price wars. Prices that are too low have caused the problem of insufficient funds to invest in new product research and development, so they have to continue low-level duplication of construction, resulting in Vicious cycle. Practice over the years has proven that innovation is the foundation of pharmaceutical companies. For traditional Chinese medicine to modernize and go global, it must play the main role in the traditional Chinese medicine innovation system, including organizational structures, talents and technical support. In the increasingly competitive pharmaceutical market, without innovation, there will be no independent intellectual property rights, and there will be no market. As the research and development of new Western medicines becomes increasingly difficult, international pharmaceutical giants have turned their attention to traditional Chinese medicine and established R&D centers in China. Countries around the world have also invested more and more special research funds in traditional Chinese medicine. In comparison, China's traditional Chinese medicine companies' investment in new drug research and development is nothing more than a drop in the bucket.
Problem 3: Weak awareness of patent and intellectual property protection
At present, 8 patents for mint, an authentic Chinese medicinal material in Jiangsu, are in the hands of Americans. It is reported that there are 16 Chinese patent patent applications for mint, 8 domestic applications, and 8 foreign applications. Although the number of patents is evenly divided between China and foreign countries, the technical patents of foreign companies are mainly used in high-profit markets such as chewing gum. Among them, the American Wrigley Sugar Company has 4 patents, while my country's patents are only mint lotus root, mint tea, etc., and the market space is extremely limited. .
Traditional Chinese medicine intellectual property issues cover a wide range of issues. In addition to the patent issues listed above, they also include trademarks, trade secrets, administrative protection and many other aspects. For pharmaceuticals, trademark protection is very important. Drug trademarks are not only symbols of goods and companies, but also serve as the basis for whether drugs are operated legally. Registered trademarks of pharmaceuticals are of great significance for companies to create famous brands and improve market competitiveness. Well-known trademarks such as Tongrentang and Darentang have a good reputation among consumers and peers. However, many traditional Chinese medicine companies in my country do not pay attention to the registration of traditional Chinese medicine trademarks, resulting in serious brand loss, conflicts between trademark rights and corporate name rights, and confusion between common drug names and trademarks.
In addition to the above-mentioned problems, there are also cultural differences between Chinese and Western medicine, such as the inability of Western society to understand terms such as "Yin deficiency" in Chinese medicine; misunderstandings caused by improper use of Chinese medicines, such as: Guanmutong and other Chinese medicines caused by improper use. "Chinese medicine kidney disease" has caused many foreign public opinions to be biased against traditional Chinese medicine, which shows that traditional Chinese medicine is still facing various internal and external troubles as it goes global. It is a long process for Chinese medicine to go global, but I believe that with our joint efforts, Chinese medicine will one day contribute to the health of people around the world.