Researcher Seeks to Conserve and Promote Native Medicinal Plants in Viet Nam

Bá Thi Châm is a researcher in biochemistry at the Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology (VAST).  She is an innovator with several patents and functional food products on the Vietnamese market.  She is also the Vice Director of Hoang Chau, a company she launched with her husband in 2013.  She aims to promote the variety of medicinal native Viet Nam plants and raise awareness about their health benefits.

Châm’s mother is a traditional medicine doctor, processing raw materials and preparing medicinal plants for her patients.  From as far as she can remember, Châm has always been interested in plants, and she started exploring plants’ medical properties while studying in 1997.  After her studies, she took the plants her mother uses to the lab to research their chemical composition and biological effects.

In the future, Châm would like to expand her market and raise awareness about her products in the country. She is also exploring options to sell outside Viet Nam. “I want to export my country’s herbs to the world because that is my country’s strength,” she said.

She is currently developing pet healthcare products to meet different companies’ demands.

Châm participates in WIPO mentoring sessions, which started in June 2023.

Researching Plants’ Health Benefits

She studied the plants’ growing process, collected medicinal herbs with farmers, and took samples from the forest.  She created her first commercial products in 2013 before launching her company, Hoang Chau, which is her first son’s name, with her husband, Hoang Trong Hien, a former veterinarian, the same year.  The company is now working with ten full-time staff and some contractors.

Her research focuses on isolating the active compounds from medicinal herbs and analyzing the health benefits of those compounds to treat a range of ailments.  Her research also allowed her to devise methods to prepare plants and turn them into commercial products with precise indications.

According to Châm, the health properties of her functional food are scientifically recognized in Viet Nam, and the Ministry of Health has licensed all of her products.

From Gastrointestinal Troubles to Anti-cholesterol and Bronchitis

Over the years, Châm has developed a whole range of functional food, treating several health conditions.  Among them, the Nano Curcumin Coptis reduces the risk of gastrointestinal ulcers, Gastroadisia prevents stomach ulcers and gastric reflux, and Herbainsu lessens digestive disorders and the effects of chronic colitis.  At the same time, Conacepts helps with tiredness, and Ich Phe Panaak reduces cough and helps with bronchitis and pneumonia.

Several of her preparations include nano curcumin.  Curcumin’s antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, anti-microbial, and anti-cancer benefits have been documented in preclinical and clinical studies.  Nano-sized curcumin, Châm explained, provides much higher assimilation by the body that can take full advantage of all the curcumin’s health benefits.

Some plants are difficult to grow, she said, and have to be cultivated in the lab using tissue culture techniques.  Other rare medicinal herbs are grown and conserved in her medicinal garden in Hoa Binh province, some 60 km from Hanoi.

All of the medicinal herbs that Châm uses are native plants.  She said that in the Viet Nam market, 80% of plants come from China, “I would like to promote Viet Nam plants and raise awareness about their health benefits.”

Hoang Chau has 20 products on the market and uses about 100 different herbs to manufacture her products.  A company, Bat Phuc, where Châm is a shareholder, manufactures all of Hoang Chau’s products in a specialized laboratory.  Bat Phuc does not commercialize the products.

Patented Preparations and Cooperation Agreements

Châm’s preparations have won five utility patents, all owned by VAST.  Her products are commercialized through cooperation agreements.  She is working with ten partner companies.  Two of them commercialize only Hoang Chau’s products, while the eight others commercialize various products.  Châm receives a percentage of the sales and trains the companies’ salespersons.

She also provides herbs to companies wanting to make their own formulations.

Hoang Chau’s products are found in pharmacies in Viet Nam as functional food, and Châm promotes her products through fairs and exhibitions.