Biostar Pharma launches Chinese medicine to treat hepatitis B in Beijing and Shanghai

Biostar Pharmaceuticals is planning to launch herbal hepatitis B treatment Xin Aoxing Oleanolic Acid capsules in Beijing and Shanghai of China.

Xin Aoxing Oleanolic Acid capsule is an over-the-counter (OTC) medicine for chronic hepatitis B.

Xin Aoxing capsules have been launched in the Tianjin market in November 2009, which has already generated $0.5 million in revenues during its first month.

Beijing, Shanghai, and Tianjin are three of the largest markets in China with a total population estimated at 50 million.

Biostar will leverage both distributors and direct sales in these three markets.

“We are very pleased with the progress we have made to expand our Xin Aoxing Capsules into Beijing and Shanghai. Our focus on the Tianjin, Beijing and Shanghai markets is part of a strategy to develop high-population territories along with continued expansion of our rural networks,” stated Wang Ronghua, Chairman and CEO of Biostar Pharmaceuticals, Inc.

Xin Aoxing capsules helped Biostar Pharmaceuticals achieve significant growth in first three quarters of 2009.

As of December 11, 2009, Biostar also reported a total of 5,010 sales outlets in its New Rural Cooperative Medical Drug Supply Network, exceeding its target to cover 5,000 sales outlets by the end of 2009.

Biostar anticipates approximately $9 million in incremental revenues during 2010 from these two new markets from the sales of Xin Aoxing Oleanolic Acid capsule with average gross margins of approximately 72%.

Hepatitis B is a disease affecting approximately 10% of the Chinese population.

In addition to its hepatitis product, Biostar manufactures two broad-based OTC products, two prescription-based pharmaceuticals and thirteen nutrients.

Biostar Pharmaceuticals, Inc., through its wholly-owned subsidiary in China, develops, manufactures and markets pharmaceutical and medical nutrient products for a variety of diseases and conditions.

Recently, Jin Hua Qing Gan Fang, a Chinese herbal remedy, was found effective in A/H1N1 swine flu patients, according to a leading Chinese daily.

Jin Hua Qing Gan Fang, also called “Jin Hua” is being hailed as the world’s first traditional Chinese medicine to treat the A/H1N1 swine flu by the Chinese news papers.

Clinical studies spanning seven months have come out with adequate scientific evidence that the Chinese herbal remedy Jin Hua Qing Gan Fangan can shorten patients’ fever period and improve their respiratory systems, reports said quoting medical experts from China.

Jin Hua Qing Gan Fangan has no adverse side-effects.

Above all, Jin Hua Qing Gan Fangan is also very cheap. The medication cost only about a quarter of the cost of Tamiflu -  the widely used anti-flu drug of Swiss drugmaker Roche Holding recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO) for the treatment of the A/H1N1 swine flu.

The municipal government in Beijing has gathered the most outstanding medical experts in the Chinese capital to develop the new medication, stated Zhao Jing, director of the Beijing Municipal Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine, which had earmarked 10 million yuan (1.47 million U.S. dollars) for the project.

More than 120 medical specialists, led by academicians Wang Yongyan and Li Lianda from the Chinese Academy of Engineering, had participated in the research over the past seven months.

The clinical studies using Jin Hua Qing Gan Fangan lasted for almost five months and were conducted by experts from the China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Beijing University of Technology.

Animal experiments on more than 4,000 mice and rabbits and human studies on 410 patients with slight A/H1N1 flu syndrome showed Jin Hua can bring down a fever and resist the A/H1N1 flu virus, stated Huang Luqi, vice president of the China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences.

Jin Hua clinical studies involved 11 hospitals nationwide, including Chaoyang Hospital and Ditan Hospital in Beijing.

Chinese medical experts picked Jin Hua Qing Gan Fangan from among more than 100 classic anti-flu prescriptions based on traditional Chinese herbal medicine.

Chinese experts are planning to seek patents for ‘Jin Hua’ both at home and abroad to protect the drug from copying.

Jin Hua Qing Gan Fangan prescription had been adopted in many local traditional Chinese medicine hospitals.

Now backed by new clinical data, the Chinese health authorities are considering to develop Jin Hua Qing Gan Fangan further as an alternative to treat the A/H1N1 swine flu nott only in China but to the whole world.