PuraPharm Partners with TRE to Open Hong Kong’s First Private Chinese and Western Medical “Integrative Breast Center” for Mammary Gland Diseases

Number of Nong’s^® Chinese Medicine Clinics Reaches 50

PuraPharm Remains as Hong Kong’s Largest Chinese Medicine Clinic Chain¹

PuraPharm Corporation Limited (“PuraPharm” or the “Group”, HKEX: 1498), a leading Hong Kong-based Chinese medicine company specialising in the research and development, production and sale of Concentrated Chinese Medicine Granules (“CCMG”) products under the “Nong’s^® (農本方^®)” brand, is to collaborate with TRE Asia Pacific Limited (“TRE”), a medical services company engaged in clinical practice, research and education, to run Integrative Breast Center (“the Center”), the first private integrated Chinese and western medical center for mammary gland diseases in Hong Kong. The two parties today have held an opening ceremony at Precious Blood Hospital (Caritas). The new Center is also PuraPharm’s 50^th Nong’s^® Chinese medicine clinic in Hong Kong, thus the Group continues to hold the position as the largest Chinese medicine clinic chain in Hong Kong¹.

Presently one-stop Chinese and western medical services have yet to be widely adopted. Due to the separation of Chinese and western medical treatments, misunderstanding and issues on medical treatment often occur as Chinese and western doctors are unclear about the prescriptions and treatment methods of the other. In fact, a lot of problems can be avoided as long as Chinese and western doctors maintain clear communications, and integrated Chinese and western medical treatments can actually bring more good than harm to patients as they can complement each other to enhance treatment results and reduce side effects. In view of this, PuraPharm has launched cooperation with TRE for the first time to open the inaugural one-stop private integrated Chinese and western medical center for mammary gland diseases in Hong Kong.

Total investment in the Center located at Precious Blood Hospital (Caritas) is approximately HK$700,000. The Center integrates the advanced western treatment methods and the holistic recuperation through traditional Chinese medicine to offer one-stop Chinese and western medical services to patients suffering from mammary gland diseases. Both Chinese medicine and western doctors provide medical services under one roof and they will share the health records of patients, treatment methods and prescriptions so as to customise the best treatment method for the patients. Compared with the public integrated Chinese and western medical institutions for mammary gland diseases, the Center can offer better services as the patients only need to make appointment two-to-three days in advance to avoid the long waiting time. They can also receive both Chinese and western medical services on the same day and their cases will be followed up by both Chinese and western doctors for their treatment, thus enjoying greater convenience and protection.

Mr. Abraham Chan, Founder, Chairman, Chief Executive Officer and Executive Director of PuraPharm, said, “We are pleased to cooperate with TRE in a major step forward to provide one-stop Chinese and western medical services. This initiative is in line with the Group’s mission to modernise Chinese medicine. Mammary gland diseases are commonly seen in Hong Kong and breast cancer is the number one cancer affecting women. Therefore, we intend to combine Chinese and western treatment methods at the Center and will actively explore other specialties to integrate expertise in the Chinese and western medical fields so as to provide more comprehensive treatment methods for different patients.”

The Center mainly serves patients suffering from mammary gland diseases. In addition to hyperplasia of the mammary glands, adenofibroma, breast swelling and pain, breast cancer is also regarded as a mammary gland disease. According to the statistics issued by Hong Kong Cancer Registry, breast cancer has been the number one cancer affecting Hong Kong women since 1993. The confirmed cases of breast cancer in the subsequent ten years tripled from 1,152 cases per year to 3,524 cases per year, meaning an average of nine women were confirmed as breast cancer patients every day. According to an article published by The University of Hong Kong in 2003, about 28% of interviewees who were breast cancer patients said they had received treatment other than that provided by western doctors. The Breast Cancer Registry Report No. 8 issued by the Hong Kong Breast Cancer Foundation also pointed out that 66.5% of the 5,310 interviewed patients had received Chinese medicine treatments. Among the 177,000 attendances who visited Nong’s^® Chinese medicine clinics since they commenced operation in 2014 until now, the number of female patients is 2.4 times that of male patients, and about 10,000 female patients are sufferers of gynecological diseases, reflecting the huge demand for Chinese medical services from Hong Kong residents, in particular women.

Mr. Chan concluded, “Looking ahead, we will continue to develop more safe and effective Chinese medicine products and offer more convenient and quality Chinese medicine services through the modernisation and internationalisation of Chinese medicine. We have also replicated Hong Kong’s successful Nong’s^® clinic business model in Mainland China and overseas markets in order to seize the strong market demand for Chinese medicine and maximise return for our shareholders.”

^[1] PuraPharm is a medical group chain with the highest number of Chinese medicine clinics in Hong Kong