Tianjiang Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd., founded in 1992, is a developer of Chinese Herbal Extracts and a pioneer in the related fields of scientific research, industrialization and marketing. It is a publicly traded company on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange under China Traditional Chinese Medicine Co. Limited (HK0570). Tianjiang Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. is a CFDA-certified GMP manufacturing pharmaceutical company, and a US C-GMP complied dietary supplement health product supplier. Its products meet the China’s standards for both pharmaceuticals and food. In 2014, Tianjiang Pharmaceutical established the largest production base of Chinese Herbal Extracts in China, covering more than 150 acres, and has more than 30 GMP standard production lines. It has 13 branch companies, 65 Chinese medicine planting bases and 8 raw herbal material processing factories across the country. The annual production capacity of Chinese Herbal Extracts reaches 10,000 tons, and the automation and intelligent quality monitoring system from raw materials to finished products is implemented.

Tianjiang selects authentic herbal materials, establishes the Quality Management Specification for Medicinal Plant Planting and Harvesting, and sets up raw herbs planting bases in different authentic regions. Using unified GACP management methods, cross-regional management and strict protection, Tianjiang guarantees herbal materials from the source. At present, Tianjiang has cooperated with Academician Huang Luqi, and has 108 planting bases, stably supplying 490 high-quality varieties commonly used in clinical practice, and the company has more than 700 varieties.

Tianjiang also forms University-enterprise consortium with China Pharmaceutical University, Department of Genetics and Breeding,specializing in the cultivation and demonstration of selected varieties of Chinese herbs. It has put scientific and technological achievements of the Pharmaceutical Science to real uses.

In response to the endogenous factors affecting the safety of traditional Chinese medicine, Tianjiang has strengthened its research on the origin, pre-processing and production processes to ensure its product safety and effectiveness.

Heavy metals and other harmful elements control

There were over 60 varieties from different batches shown heavy metals exceeding the standard. Based on the research results, the company has taken targeted measures to limit of heavy metal in these products.

Optimize the origin of raw materials: We compare the safe origin of raw herbs by examining the soil, water and air of the production area.

Pesticide residue control

Testing shows that there are nearly 20 varieties of Chinese herbal medicines that are prone to excessive pesticide residues. We have listed them as key varieties and applied two control measures.

Establish production base or a cooperative production base at suitable sites, strengthening field management,and reduce the use of pesticides.

Establish internal control standards for pesticide residues, and test pesticide residues before production. Any non-conforming product shall be re-inspected in-site.

Aflatoxin control

More than 10 varieties of herbs are selected to have aflatoxin exceeding the standard, such as Suan Zao Ren, peach kernel, and Corydalis. Two strong and effective measures were taken to ensure the quality of raw materials and reduce the level of aflatoxin.

One is to construct or incorporate raw material production bases, and impose standard operating procedures of processing. For example, when spiny jujube flesh was removed to produce the kernel (Suan Zao Ren), the old way is to use long-term soaking and pound off the flesh. This method breeds mold, causing aflatoxin to exceed the standard. After confirming the source of the problem, the company established a cooperation base, and requires strict processing of harvesting mature fruits and hand peeling meat.

For varieties that are difficult to preserve, the raw material are supplied in season. For example, fresh Corydalis root needs to be dried immediately to prevent molding. Thecompany requires cooperative bases to dry new harvested slices immediately after cooking, and arrange the production by the company in the shortest time possible.

Sulfur dioxide residue control

Sulfur fumigation is one of the commonly used methods for traditional Chinese medicine to prevent mildew and insects, so excessive sulfur in the end product occurs. According to the results of the census of Tianjiang Pharmaceutical, more than 60 varieties of sulfur dioxide often exceeded the standard. With reference to the international testing methods and standards for sulfur dioxide, the company established strict internal control standards.

Based on product quality and high-quality service, with advanced management, high-quality talent team and harmonious humanistic environment, Tianjiang has achieved good sales year after year. "Tianjiang" brand granules have won unanimous praise from users all over the world because of the remarkable efficacy, safety and reliability.

Tianjiang herbal extract granules have been used in more than 4,000 TCM medical institutions in 34 provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities directly under the Central Government, and are used clinically in key provincial TCM hospitals in China. Thirteen of the 16 national TCM clinical research bases are in use. In 2019, the sales of Tianjiang granules reached 4.5 billion, and the sales excluding tax was 3.9 billion. The products are also exported to 28 countries and regions including Asia, Africa, Europe and the United States.

Traceable Platform for Monitoring Safety and Product Quality

The whole-process- tracking-management not only strengthens the quality management, reduces the cost of error correction, but also facilitates the collection of commodity information and consumer trends and thus improves the company’s rapid response capability. In the field of process manufacturing, especially in the production of pharmaceuticals, the establishment of a product quality traceable system has become one of the important management tools that companies rely upon.

1. The traceable platform records and manages all the data involved from raw materials to final products, so that the whole process becomes traceable and transparent

2. The quality traceable platform is divided into 6 major modules: seed/seedlings, growing practices, single herb production, formula production, storage and transportation, commercial circulation.  It essentially covers the entire circulation of our products.

3. The tracing data consists of three main parts: production, supply and marketing. Our company manages two major data sources: herb cultivation and granules production. The cultivation part includes farmers’ files and growing environmental data, etc.; the granule production part covers steps from raw material to finished products release.