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Danapha invests in producing medicines from herbs
16/05/2014
Some people still have the habit to observe the formula when acknowledging a medicine or functional foods from herbs. They trust that kind of medicine only upon their recognition of familiar medicinal ingredients. Actually, it turns out to be not simple. A good quality product is only produced in a manufacturing process with strict control.
Problems with possibility to occur
Medicinal herbs that are collected sometimes have poor quality cannot find active ingredients. This phenomenon often happens in medicinal herbs harvested naturally. The collectors conduct the repurchasing from focal points, mainly in residential area and then resell to Businesses. The only thing they care about is the right type of herb. They do not care about the age of the herb, the harvest that is the factors affecting the amount of active ingredients. Although drying is so simple, careless drying also affects the quality of herbs, especially the kinds of leaves.
Similar herbs sometimes make confusions. It is common knowledge that there are two kinds of Phyllanthus. Phyllanthusarmarus is a plant containing Phyllanthin and Hypophyllanthin - the liver protective active ingredients. Phyllanthusurinaria was not this active ingredient. However, these two kinds only can be distinguished in fresh state. If harvesting mixed, dry, almost indistinguishable. This confusion will create an ineffective product if not controlling well.
Herbs sold on the market sometimes have higher humidity than specified standard. Normally the prescribed humidity of herbs is only 10% - 14%, this proportion very dry. If the humidity is higher, the available yeasts in herbs have conditions to operate and dissolve the active ingredients. It can be said that this is a popular status on the market because the herbal traders deliberately do that to increase the weight. This is also a warning for the general state of herbs circulating on the market.
Procedure of processing herbs in the semi-finished product stage which is the work of internal enterprise should is strictly regulated and controlled. The parameters in the process of extraction, cooking plaster are specified specifically with the control or assessment of the quality for each stage. This requires enterprises to raise their awareness, and must actively make investments to improve the level of inspection, technology and, above all, the qualifications of human resources.
In terms of all above issues, the World Health organization has issued the document on Good Agricultural and Collection Practices for herbs planting and harvesting(GACP)
Danapha Pharmaceutical JSC’s actions to ensure the quality of herbal medicine
The orientation relating to development of medicines from herbs has been determinedly The Board of Directors of the Company. The products must have good quality with high treatment efficiency to gain the trust of consumers, which is the essential criterion to implement the orientation. The solutions to ensure for process of producing high quality products have been conducted:
1. To raise the level of testing quality of herbs
The level of testing quality of herbs is a difficult struggle of many enterprises. Standards listed in the Pharmaceutical dictionary are minimum standards that manufacturers must meet. However, many treatises on herbs in Pharmaceutical dictionary are built only to qualitative content of group of substances. This application level cannot have reliable results. Manufacturers are only confident when active ingredients are tested and assessed. Therefore, Danapha Pharmaceutical JSC has invested in researching the construction of Standard Data of Herbs. It is necessary to have equipment and human resources to do this. With the availability of qualified and dedicated technical staff, Danapha Pharmaceutical JSC has equipped high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) of the latest generation with best capability to separate active ingredients in Standard Data of Herbs studied carefully, and it is considered as the most accurate image recorded and used for comparison. Standard Dataof herbs include:
- The image of delicate cross-sectional microsurgery features of herbs
- Analysis process of active ingredients and chromatogram in thin plate
- Analysis process of active ingredients and the ultraviolet spectrum of active ingredients compared to standard.
- Currently, Danapha has had 60 sets the Standard Data for 60 herbs used in production. The data are used for checking imported herbs, the semi-finished products in the production process and finished products. Thus, the quality of products such as VG-5, “Bai Thach”, Sedative medicine, Phyllanthus, Revmaton ... and other products of the company are assessed in a scientific and careful way from input materials, semi-finished and finished products. The reality demonstrates that we always ensure efficiency in the treatment and achieve sustainable increase in revenue.
Problems with possibility to occur
Medicinal herbs that are collected sometimes have poor quality cannot find active ingredients. This phenomenon often happens in medicinal herbs harvested naturally. The collectors conduct the repurchasing from focal points, mainly in residential area and then resell to Businesses. The only thing they care about is the right type of herb. They do not care about the age of the herb, the harvest that is the factors affecting the amount of active ingredients. Although drying is so simple, careless drying also affects the quality of herbs, especially the kinds of leaves.
Similar herbs sometimes make confusions. It is common knowledge that there are two kinds of Phyllanthus. Phyllanthusarmarus is a plant containing Phyllanthin and Hypophyllanthin - the liver protective active ingredients. Phyllanthusurinaria was not this active ingredient. However, these two kinds only can be distinguished in fresh state. If harvesting mixed, dry, almost indistinguishable. This confusion will create an ineffective product if not controlling well.
Herbs sold on the market sometimes have higher humidity than specified standard. Normally the prescribed humidity of herbs is only 10% - 14%, this proportion very dry. If the humidity is higher, the available yeasts in herbs have conditions to operate and dissolve the active ingredients. It can be said that this is a popular status on the market because the herbal traders deliberately do that to increase the weight. This is also a warning for the general state of herbs circulating on the market.
Procedure of processing herbs in the semi-finished product stage which is the work of internal enterprise should is strictly regulated and controlled. The parameters in the process of extraction, cooking plaster are specified specifically with the control or assessment of the quality for each stage. This requires enterprises to raise their awareness, and must actively make investments to improve the level of inspection, technology and, above all, the qualifications of human resources.
In terms of all above issues, the World Health organization has issued the document on Good Agricultural and Collection Practices for herbs planting and harvesting(GACP)
Danapha Pharmaceutical JSC’s actions to ensure the quality of herbal medicine
The orientation relating to development of medicines from herbs has been determinedly The Board of Directors of the Company. The products must have good quality with high treatment efficiency to gain the trust of consumers, which is the essential criterion to implement the orientation. The solutions to ensure for process of producing high quality products have been conducted:
1. To raise the level of testing quality of herbs
The level of testing quality of herbs is a difficult struggle of many enterprises. Standards listed in the Pharmaceutical dictionary are minimum standards that manufacturers must meet. However, many treatises on herbs in Pharmaceutical dictionary are built only to qualitative content of group of substances. This application level cannot have reliable results. Manufacturers are only confident when active ingredients are tested and assessed. Therefore, Danapha Pharmaceutical JSC has invested in researching the construction of Standard Data of Herbs. It is necessary to have equipment and human resources to do this. With the availability of qualified and dedicated technical staff, Danapha Pharmaceutical JSC has equipped high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) of the latest generation with best capability to separate active ingredients in Standard Data of Herbs studied carefully, and it is considered as the most accurate image recorded and used for comparison. Standard Dataof herbs include:
- The image of delicate cross-sectional microsurgery features of herbs
- Analysis process of active ingredients and chromatogram in thin plate
- Analysis process of active ingredients and the ultraviolet spectrum of active ingredients compared to standard.
- Currently, Danapha has had 60 sets the Standard Data for 60 herbs used in production. The data are used for checking imported herbs, the semi-finished products in the production process and finished products. Thus, the quality of products such as VG-5, “Bai Thach”, Sedative medicine, Phyllanthus, Revmaton ... and other products of the company are assessed in a scientific and careful way from input materials, semi-finished and finished products. The reality demonstrates that we always ensure efficiency in the treatment and achieve sustainable increase in revenue.
2. Co-operate and invest in the construction of planting field, provide clean herbs
The strict monitoring of the quality of herbs under developed method has shown the fact that the quality of purchased herbs is unstable. It is inevitable to use centralized cultivated and controlled herbs. On that basis, Danapha Pharmaceutical JSC has co-operated with The Central Viet Nam Herb Research and Production Centre. The Center is the place planting and providing clean herbs for Danapha’s production. Phyllanthusarmarus, Desmodiumstyracyfolium (Osb) Merr, Ecliptaprostrata L are the first herbs listed in this co-operation program. After a short time, due to growing demand and getting some experience, Danapha has invested in the construction of planting area in HoaVang district, Danang city to self-provide good material in an active way.
3. Invest in rebuilding Traditional medicines production plant
Due to increasing demands of product and serious quality assurance, Danapha has rebuilt Traditional medicines production plant. The structure of the plant complies with GMP requirements, WHO. New equipment for manufacturing are installed, according to the technology of China and Taiwan where there are much experience in traditional medicine production equipment. The operation of the plant has been stable and run at full capacity.
The value of medicinal plants has been accumulated through experience of many generations. The scientists have made in-depth research to prove effectiveness of actual treatment. Medicinal plant is a creature having metabolism process. A good quality herb must be complied with the required techniques from cultivation, harvest, post-harvest handling, processing and the entire manufacturing process. Enthusiastic manufacturers who want to have reliable and good quality products, they must invest into Technique and Quality to actively control the entire process. Investment capital in both finance and human resources is not small, but Danapha has determined to persistently pursue this orientation. Therefore, currently Danapha can be proud of its high quality traditional herbal medicines and solid position on the Traditional medicine market.
Due to increasing demands of product and serious quality assurance, Danapha has rebuilt Traditional medicines production plant. The structure of the plant complies with GMP requirements, WHO. New equipment for manufacturing are installed, according to the technology of China and Taiwan where there are much experience in traditional medicine production equipment. The operation of the plant has been stable and run at full capacity.
The value of medicinal plants has been accumulated through experience of many generations. The scientists have made in-depth research to prove effectiveness of actual treatment. Medicinal plant is a creature having metabolism process. A good quality herb must be complied with the required techniques from cultivation, harvest, post-harvest handling, processing and the entire manufacturing process. Enthusiastic manufacturers who want to have reliable and good quality products, they must invest into Technique and Quality to actively control the entire process. Investment capital in both finance and human resources is not small, but Danapha has determined to persistently pursue this orientation. Therefore, currently Danapha can be proud of its high quality traditional herbal medicines and solid position on the Traditional medicine market.
