Antiviral traditional Chinese medicine awarded U.S., Japan patents

A pharmacist weighs ingredients to produce traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) decoctions at the First Teaching Hospital of Tianjin University of Traditional Chinese Medicine in north China's Tianjin, Jan. 12, 2022. (Xinhua/Li Ran)

BEIJING, Feb. 19 (Xinhua) -- An antiviral traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) composition has been awarded patents by Japan and the United States successively, said a Chinese pharmaceutical company.

The medicine is a composition of effective components extracted from TCM raw materials, and has obvious broad-spectrum antiviral effects, said Jia Hongzhang, founder of the Beijing pharmaceutical company Hongtianli.

The composition has been proved effective against influenza A virus, HIN1, and Zika virus among others by researches from home and abroad.

The research of the composition's effect mechanism against COVID-19 has also been carried out recently.

The patent of the medicine composition was registered by the Japan Patent Office on Jan. 13, 2022, and it was awarded the United States Patent on Feb. 1, 2022, according to Jia.