The University is working closely with Tasly Group Company Limited to establish new postgraduate courses in pharmaceutical research and management, and to further develop commercial links between Nottingham and China.
It is a collaboration that brings together areas of expertise that will stimulate further natural drug discovery efforts and bring international management skills to Chinese pharmaceutical industrial leaders and managers. It may also bring economic benefits to the East Midlands.
Tasly is a world leader in creating modern drugs from ancient natural Chinese remedies. Chinese medicine embodies a sophisticated system of diagnosis, prescription and treatment, with vast potential for modern pharmacologists to create effective drugs based on these age-old compounds.
The University is already collaborating with Tasly in the research and development of pharmaceuticals including traditional Chinese medicines, chemical drugs and biologics, educational programmes and contract research services.
Tasly’s chairman, Dr Xijun Yan, and vice-president, Dr Henry Sun, visited the University on February 23 to sign a Memorandum of Understanding, cementing links between the two partners and furthering plans to develop joint MSc and PhD programmes.
Both Dr Yan and Dr Sun have pioneered the globalisation of Chinese medicines, and each delivered a lecture to the assembled Nottingham staff and students. Dr Yan spoke on the development of China’s pharmaceutical industry, and the people-oriented development of technology and education. Dr Sun spoke on ‘Clinical pharmacology and pharmacometrics in new drug development’.
The latest Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed by Dr Yan and by Professor David Greenaway, Vice-Chancellor of The University of Nottingham. Senior representatives from the East Midlands Development Agency (emda) also attended the signing ceremony.
The MoU pushes forward plans to develop two taught Masters programmes and a PhD programme in collaboration with Tasly. These could include the following courses, jointly delivered by the University and Tasly, with study in both China and the UK:
- A University of Nottingham MSc Pharmaceutical Entrepreneurship programme
- A University of Nottingham MSc Pharmaceutical Research Development
- A University of Nottingham PhD programme
Dr Richard Masterman, Director of Research Innovation Services at The University of Nottingham, said: “This is an exciting opportunity for the University to develop new links with a major Chinese company, in areas where they can benefit from our expertise and that has the potential to realise significant benefits for the region.”
University of Nottingham academics in the United Kingdom carry out research into natural-product-based drug discovery in Chinese medicine across the Schools of Biomedical Sciences, Biosciences, Chemistry and Pharmacy.
In China, over 15 years of development at Tasly Group has applied pharmaceutical industry techniques to traditional medicine. It has become a high-tech firm whose scope includes modern traditional Chinese medicine, chemical medicine, biological medicine, vaccines, healthcare products, and functional food, covering research and development, planting, manufacturing, and distribution.
Tony Harkén