3月25日，在亚洲青年领袖论坛健康与医疗主题论坛上，北京化工大学教授童贻刚发表主旨演讲。

全文如下：

各位领导、各位嘉宾、各位朋友：

下午好！首先，感谢组委会邀请，我在这里分享我们的一些观点。刚才前面两位老总都提到了健康和中药的问题，健康是人类共同的目标，每个人都有健康方面的需求，尤其是近年来传染病、新冠疫情给我们带来了深刻的影响，每个人都可以说是深有感触。怎么样面对这些问题呢？

我们的科技在不断发展，医学水平不断提高，但是新发的传染病会越来越多，为什么？这是因为我们的能力增强了，我们和动物的接触多了，另外我们国际交流非常频繁。以前，在农村，和城市的交流很少，现在交流非常容易，这都是社会发展的结果。每一种动物都有自己的病毒，但每一种病毒都有可能通过动物感染人，这就导致现在的传染病会越来越多。我们近几年看到除了各种流感亚型，还有非典、MERS，还有现在的新冠。当然我们还在发现有些犬冠状病毒、猪冠状病毒也在感染人。至于将来哪一天会引起大的疫情，这个是不可知的，但是是必然的，所以我们还需要做好准备。

我们大家都知道，在传染病领域有一个很著名的药物，就是青蒿素，给中国人带来荣誉的研究，也是我们理解中药为什么有效的非常好的一个例子。我们很多人都关注中药、推崇中药，不管中国还是东南亚，很多人推崇这些，很多中国人在用中药。中药为什么管用？很多人都提出质疑，包括西方的人很难接受这里面的原理是什么？我今天用青蒿素之外的另外一个例子讲讲中药的问题。

首先讲讲新冠疫情。除了现在的新冠，将来还会有别的新冠。新冠是不会马上消失的，因为全世界有几亿人的感染，而且不是季节性的，是一年四季都会有的。未来，防范新冠，除了疫苗还需要有药物。疫苗有很多的变异机会，药物品种很少，我们需要有更多的东西。我们实验室长期做新冠传染病的研究，很多动物的新冠很可能在未来感染人。2016年发现猪的新冠导致在广东温氏集团大规模的猪的死亡；还有后来发现穿山甲的新冠，大量的穿山甲死亡；后来发现东北大量豪猪死亡。这些东西都有可能在未来感染人。

我们在过去工作中发现了很多新冠。人类新冠疫情发生之后，作为科学家、微生物学家，我们怎么样为人类服务？我们就想用动物的新冠来研究人的新冠，找一个和人类新冠非常接近的新冠来作为药物筛选。我们筛了已经上市的药几千种，发现了几种有效的，其中千金藤素是最有效的。

我们也用新冠的病毒验证，发现药物对不同的变异株都有很好的效果。也有大量的文献证明千金藤素对各种冠状病毒都管用，而且对于埃博拉、艾滋病、Zika、流感都管用。这些是一些动物实验的证据，结果很快发表了文章，国际上有很多团队都证实了我们的发现。这是日本国立研究所的所长，这是宾夕法尼亚大学的团队，这是重庆医科大学黄爱龙校长的团队，伊利诺伊大学团队，芝加哥大学团队，清华、协和团队，都证明我们发现的千金藤非常有效。而且不仅仅是有效，和现代辉瑞的“P药”帕罗韦德几乎是同一个数量级的药效，同时它比瑞德西韦要强10倍左右的效力，比盐野义等其他国产的药都要好多了。

这个药的作用机制为什么是广谱？我们做了很多工作，发现在病毒入侵的时候有一个关卡，就是膜融合。它能够阻断膜融合，它的膜融合阻断机制是因为它是一个钙离子通道的抑制剂，这是它对宿主的保护作用。因为它作为多年使用的中药非常安全，对宿主有调节作用。

我们研究了和千金藤类似的中药，比如北豆根、粉防己，也有类似的药物，我们想知道哪个药最有效。有幸的是，在中医古籍中发现千金藤素来源药物 “地不容”的记载。地不容据记载就是清热压热、消痰降火、利咽喉、退赤目，这些症状完全就是新冠的症状，这也说明我们中医的古人真是很了不起。所以，我说这个有点相似青蒿素，青蒿素来源于古籍，这个也和古籍有关。

最后，我总结一下千金藤素的八大优点。第一，药效好，是国际第一梯队的药物。第二，得到全球广泛验证。第三，具有其他很多优良作用，稳心率。第四个，抗肺纤维化，抗免疫因子风暴等等，适合于重症治疗。第五，是一个广谱的药物，多靶点，可预防可治疗。第六，它有70年的临床使用历史，在国外是受批准上市，多年在使用，安全无副作用。最近在国内也有临床实验，证明它是很有效的。第七，中医理论证明是非常有效的中药。第八，有多种剂型。

Tong Yigang shares research findings on cepharanthine against coronavirus

On 25 March, Tong Yigang, professor at Beijing University of Chemical Technology, delivered a keynote speech at the Health and Medical Care Forum of the Asia Youth Leaders Forum. Following is the full text of the speech.

Excellencies, 

Distinguished guests,

Dear friends,

Good afternoon. I would like to thank the organizing committee for the invitation. I will share some of our views. Just now, the previous speakers have both mentioned health and TCM. Health is a common goal of humanity, and each of us has our own health needs. Especially in recent years, infectious diseases, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, have had a profound impact on us. Every one of us has our own story to tell. How should we face these challenges?

While our technology is constantly advancing, and medical care levels are improving, the number of new infectious diseases continues to rise. Why so? It is because our capabilities have increased, and we have more contact with animals. Moreover, our international exchanges have become quite frequent. In the past, rural areas have few interactions with urban areas, but now it is much easier. These changes are the result of social development. Each animal carries its unique viruses, and each virus has the potential to infect humans through animals. This leads to the increase of infectious diseases nowadays. We have seen in recent years that besides various sub-types of influenza, there is SARS, MERS, and now COVID-19. Of course, we have also discovered that some canine and swine coronaviruses could also infect humans. As for when they will cause a pandemic in the future, it is unknown but inevitable. So, we need to be prepared.

As we all know, in the field of infectious diseases, there is a well-known drug called artemisinin, whose research has brought honor to the Chinese people. It is also a great example of why TCM is effective. Many people follow TCM with interest and praise it. Be it in China or Southeast Asia, many people do so. And many Chinese people are using it. However, as for TCM’s effectiveness, still many people have questions, especially people from the West, who find it hard to comprehend the workings behind it. I’m going to use another example, besides artemisinin, to explain TCM.

Firstly, let's talk about the COVID-19 pandmic. Besides this novel coronavirus, there will be other novel coronaviruses in the future. The coronavirus won’t disappear immediately, because millions of people worldwide have been infected. And it won’t be seasonal; it will be prevalent all year round. To prevent such a pandemic in the future, in addition to vaccines, we also need drugs. There are too many mutation potentials for vaccines, whereas the varieties of drugs are limited. We need more options. Our lab has been studying coronavirus diseases for a long time and found that many animal coronaviruses are highly likely to infect humans in the future. For example, the novel coronavirus found in pigs in 2016 in Guangdong’s Wens Group, which caused massive pig deaths; or the one found in pangolins that resulted in a large number of pangolin deaths, or the one found in wild boars in Northeast China. They all could infect humans in the future.

Since we started working on this, we have discovered numerous coronaviruses. In the wake of the COVID-19 outbreak, as scientists and microbiologists, we considered how we could serve humanity. We then came up with the idea to use animal coronaviruses to study human coronaviruses and identify a close animal variant for drug screening. We have screened thousands of drugs on the market and have discovered several effective ones, with cepharanthine being the most effective.

We have also verified the drug's effectiveness against different variants of COVID-19. There is a wealth of literature to support the efficacy of cepharanthine against various coronaviruses, as well as Ebola, HIV, Zika, and influenza. These are evidence from animal experiments. Our findings were published quickly, and numerous teams around the world have all confirmed our findings, including teams from National Institute of Infectious Diseases (NIID) in Japan, University of Pennsylvania, Chongqing Medical University, 

Illinois University, University of Chicago, and Peking Union Medical College Hospital of Tsinghua University. They all confirmed the efficacy of cepharanthine, which we discovered. Not only is it effective, but its efficacy is nearly on par with modern drugs such as Pfizer’s Paxlovid. At the same time, it’s roughly ten times stronger than Remdesivir and much stronger than drugs produced by Shionogi or other domestic pharmaceutical companies. 

Why does this drug have a broad-spectrum function mechanism? We’ve done a lot of work and found that there is a key process during virus infection, called membrane fusion. This drug cab block membrane fusion Because it acts as a calcium channel blocker. This is its protection for the host. Due to its prolonged use as a traditional Chinese medicine, it is very safe and has a regulatory effect on the host.

We have also studied other traditional Chinese medicines similar to Stephania japonica, such as menispermi Rhizoma and Stephania tetrandra, and found this similar ingredient. We wanted to know which drug was the most effective. Fortunately, we found in the ancient Chinese medical classics mention of an herb rich in cepharanthine, called epigeal Stephania root. It is said that this herb could clear heat, relieve phlegm, soothe the throat, and reduce eye redness. These symptoms are identical to those of COVID-19. This discovery is a testament to the remarkable achievements of our ancient Chinese doctors. This is why it reminded me of artemisinin, which has its origins in ancient texts. Cepharanthine is also related to ancient records.

In conclusion, I would like to highlight the 8 major advantages of cepharanthine. First, it is highly effective, one of the most effective globally. Second, it has been widely validated worldwide. Third, it has many other benefits, such as stabilizing heart rate. Fourth, it can prevent pulmonary fibrosis and anti-cytokine storm, making it suitable for the treatment of severe cases. Fifth, it is a broad-spectrum drug with multiple targets, capable of both prevention and treatment. Sixth, it has a 70-year history of clinical use and has been approved abroad and in use for many years, exhibiting safety with no side effects. Lately, clinical trials conducted in China have shown the drug to be highly effective. Seventh, TCM theory has also proven that it’s effective. Eighth, it comes in various formulations.