A recently approved investment in the Southern Taiwan Science Park will lead to mass production of diverse drugs made from an indigenous medicinal plant bupleurum kaoi by 2006, scientists for the National Science Council (NSC) said yesterday.
"Producing new drugs by extracting effective parts from the precious plant might bring Taiwan a promising future in the sector of biotechnology," Lin Chun-ching (
Bupleurum, also known as Chai Hu (
In Taiwan, Aboriginal people use its leaves to make a herbal tea, which is regarded as an effective way to cure flu.
Worldwide, there have been 318 patents involving the production of drugs made from plants. However, bupleurum kaoi has been shown by some scientists to be more effective in curing diseases than other species, Lin said.
Since the plant was accidentally rediscovered about 15 years ago in Miaoli County, scientists have tried to grow it in the field in order to use it for medicinal production, Lin said.
In 2001, Lin's long-term research project on the plant's effectiveness to cure B-type hepatitis, C-type hepatitis and other chronic liver diseases has been included in Taiwan's National Science and Technology Program for Agricultural Biotechnology.
By working with Green Health Biotechnology Co (GHB), Lin helped plant Chia Hu on an 8.6-hectare plantation in Yunlin. So far, the company had successfully developed a patented technology in its labs to make drugs from bupleurum kaoi.
The Southern Taiwan Science Park Administration approved an application to build a factory in the park last week, said GHB Chairman Wu Yao-kun (
"We estimate that drugs made from bupleurum kaoi to fight against liver-related diseases and other diseases could be available on the market by the end of 2006," Wu said.
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