Tasley Pharmaceuticals

Today we went to Tasley Pharmaceuticals, which is a very impressive Chinese pharmaceutical company. The company emerged in 1994, after it was previously owned or run by the Chinese army. The current owner purchased the company in 1998 after a law was passed that prohibited the army from having a company... or something like that.

Their specialty is large-scale manufacturing of TCM medicinal and herbal products, following GAP & GMP standards. Their representative product is a TCM tonic drip product, used for high cholesterol is already available in Europe and it has completed FDA Phase II Trials. I enjoyed just walking around the company because you could smell all of the medicinal herbs that were used in the TCM preparations and it smelled SO good. It was also very beautiful, with lots of art, it reminded me of the Pepsico headquarters in the US. The owner of Tasley is a UConn grad, so it sounded like there are potential opportunities for UConn students as jobs, fellowships, or at least a rotation, which I am totally interested in. I think there may be a market for new drugs derived from Chinese Medicine formulations and recipes. Also of note, the character 天 (my Chinese name) is incorporated into the Tasley logo-- plus!

The city that Tasley is located in, Jin Tian, 进天, (also with 天, my Chinese name!) was a really nice break from Beijing, although I really like Beijing. I'm sure the fact that it was a beautiful, haze-free, blue sky day helped. I rode a GIANT ferris wheel and got a great view of the city. We also walked around the town with our TCM host professor, so he took us to shops ranging from music, calligraphy supplies & art, jewelry, sweets, and even a Tibetan style shop.

The one downer of the day is that I have had EXTREMELY dry skin in Beijing and today the skin on my face was ESPECIALLY dry and uncomfortable, like burning, tight, red, and flaking. :( Fortunately though, our TCM host professor confirmed that is isn't related to an internal problem with food or digestion and the other UConn professor (a St. John's grad, so I know she's good) just arrived and one of her specialities is dermatology and she teaches the UConn Pharmacy Dermatology Module, so with their help I think we'll get my dry skin on my face under control. We're pretty sure that the Neutrogena sun block that I have been wearing every day is causing irritation and probably some contact dermatitis. The next challenge is finding a better sun block for me here, especially since I have a trip to the beach planned for my long weekend! 再见! (Good bye in Chinese!)