EU project to build traditional Chinese medicine guidelines
Aims to provide guidance on quality control, extraction and analysis
A European Union (EU) research project is plotting a standardisation of Chinese traditional medicine, so that it can gain greater acceptance in Europe.
The GP-TCM project, which includes researchers from China, 13 EU member states, Australia, Canada, Norway, Thailand and the US, has been allocated nearly €1m to assess the status of these medicines worldwide. The aim is to provide internationally acceptable guidance on quality control, extraction and analysis.
Project coordinator Dr Qihe Xu, of King's College, University of London, said the assessment of Chinese medicine would include silico modelling, cell-based models, animal models and clinical studies and that ‘guidelines about good practice and agreed protocols in related research areas will be published to harmonise future TCM research in the EU…’
Once the project is completed next year, participants will create and maintain a European Society of Chinese Medicine Research. This will ensure the guidance and coordination of EU-China cooperation in TCM research, said the European Commission.