A traditional Chinese medicine developed by local doctors to treat fatty liver is expected to be the first Chinese herb to go through proper clinical testing and be industrialized by the National Food and Drug Administration next year.

Dr Liu Zhihua from Shanghai's Punan Hospital has been involved in the study of hepatitis B, fatty liver and cirrhosis more than 30 years. He created the drug, danshaogankang, in the late 1990s and received a patent for the product in 2000.

"The medicine is a completely Chinese herb, and we will use testing methods and experiments from Western countries to test its effects. It also took years for the authorities to give me a patent," said Liu.

"To ensure its effects and safety, I spent over one year on animal tests and then applied to conduct clinical tests. Currently, the FDA has approved us to do test in five designated hospitals in Beijing, Shanghai and Nanjing."

More than 90 percent of the subjects involved in current testing have shown positive reactions to the drug, he said.

After danshaogankang is industrialized, Liu said he will turn his focus to another TCM he has developed to treat cirrhosis.

(Shanghai Daily May 30, 2005)