(Yicai Global) Feb. 7 -- A Chinese herbal compound developed by a hospital in Guangzhou that shows promise in initial use in treating the novel coronavirus pneumonia got the go-ahead for trial in hospitals in China's southern Guangdong province yesterday as the global medical community scrambles to find a specific drug to combat the pandemic.

The traditional Chinese medicine compounded by Guangzhou Eighth People's Hospital, Number One Pneumonia Formula, has officially passed the emergency approval procedure of the province's drug regulator, the city's health commission announced yesterday. It has been greenlighted for processing into hospital preparations for use in local medical care facilities. Only eight hospitals in the city, which is less than an hour from Hong Kong by train, are currently using the drug.

In contrast to finished medications sold on the market, such preparations are developed by hospitals themselves and processed according to their recipes for their own use.

"We are unable to conduct further research in such a short time, and our conclusions are based on clinical observations, including patients' feelings and imaging exam results," said Tan Xinghua, director of the hospital's TCM department, adding "Most patients' computerized tomography results show [lung] inflammation decreasing after taking the prescription."

The medical institution has administered the TCM formula to nearly 100 patients with the new lung infection and its early effect on those with only mild cases of the contagion is apparent, according to preliminary observation, and the preparation eases inflammation of the organs and reduces the likelihood of the disease developing into a severe infection, while also inducing fewer adverse reactions.

The  currently is mainly in clinical treatment and is not under consideration for production as a medicine yet, Tan said, adding the next step will be to start scientific research projects as soon as possible to observe its precise resultts.

"We now have insufficient sample cases for clinical use of the prescription. In future, if scientific research projects are undertaken, we hope more medical institutions will join in, and this will also render it convenient for promotion within the province," a hospital staffer told Yicai Global.

The compound was tweaked in response to the features of the new disease based on over ten years' clinical experience in treating pneumonia combined with the wisdom of experts from other provinces, and it includes more than 10 traditional Chinese medicine ingredients.

Editor: Ben Armour