From September 3 to 5, 2026, the 7th China (Gansu) Traditional Chinese Medicine Industry Expo was held at the Silk Road China (Gansu) TCM Expo Park in Longxi County, Dingxi City, Gansu Province. Under the theme "Inheritance and Innovation, Digital and Intelligent Empowerment — Promoting TCM to Support the Building of a Healthy China," the expo was jointly organized by the China TCM Association, the National TCM Material Standardization and Quality Evaluation Innovation Alliance, and Gansu Yaodu Expo Co., Ltd.

Gansu Plant-Based Innovation Technology Co., Ltd., a holding subsidiary of Shanghai UnicornShell Pharmaceutical Technology Co., Ltd., exhibited its core products — plant-based capsules and oral dissolving films. During the expo, a delegation of Zhangye municipal leading officials visited the company booth for an inspection and guidance tour, and held in-depth discussions with the technical team.

01 Booth Inspection: Plant-Based New Dosage Forms to Empower Longyao Industry

As an important part of UnicornShell's industrial layout in Northwest China, Gansu Plant-Based Innovation leverages its parent company's 27 years of expertise in plant-based empty capsules, with two main product directions: plant-based capsules and oral dissolving films. During the expo, the booth received a steady stream of visitors. Representatives from local and neighboring TCM herb growers, decoction-piece and finished TCM manufacturers, distributors, and research institutions stopped by for exchanges. The team established preliminary contacts and in-depth discussions with multiple local customers, laying a solid foundation for future cooperation in Northwest China.

During the inspection, the technical team gave Zhangye officials a systematic briefing on the company's development layout and product system. The delegation reviewed the product features, technical advantages, and industrialization progress of plant-based capsules, and recognized the company's technology innovation capability and industrial positioning.

02 Core Products and Leadership Interest: Oral Dissolving Films Bring New Momentum to Modernized Longyao

Plant-based capsules

The company's plant-based capsules use hydroxypropyl methylcellulose (HPMC) as the main raw material, offering non-animal origin, good stability, and excellent disintegration performance. The products support a shelf life of up to 60 months (5 years), leading in the industry, and have obtained multiple international certifications including FDA (United States), HALAL, BRCGS (Global Food Safety Standard), and NMPA (China).

Oral dissolving films

Oral dissolving films are a new dosage-form direction prioritized by the company. The films dissolve rapidly in the mouth upon contact with saliva and require no water, making them suitable for the elderly, children, and patients with dysphagia.

Gansu is a major production region of authentic TCM herbs, and Zhangye, Longxi, and surrounding areas have abundant herb resources and a deep industrial base. With rapid dissolution, portability, easy dosing, and suitability for people with swallowing difficulties, oral dissolving films align closely with the deep processing of Gansu authentic herbs and the modernization of TCM formulations — enabling local specialties such as astragalus (Huangqi), angelica (Danggui), and codonopsis (Dangshen) to be developed into convenient modern dosage forms. This supports the upgrade of traditional TCM from decoctions and decoction pieces toward more convenient, precise formats, and provides a new technical path for extending and strengthening the Longyao industry chain and increasing product added value.

During the inspection, the Zhangye delegation showed strong interest in the oral dissolving film project, asking in detail about the technical principle, target users, industrialization progress, and application prospects in Gansu's TCM industry, and discussing related issues with the technical team.

Company representatives said UnicornShell will continue to increase R&D and industrialization investment in plant-based capsules and oral dissolving films, actively integrate into the high-quality development of Gansu's TCM industry, and leverage local authentic herb resources to contribute to the modernization and innovative dosage-form application of Longyao.

03 About Gansu Plant-Based Innovation Technology Co., Ltd.

Gansu Plant-Based Innovation Technology Co., Ltd. is a holding subsidiary of Shanghai UnicornShell Pharmaceutical Technology Co., Ltd., focusing on the R&D and industrialization of plant-based capsules and novel drug-delivery formulations, and serving as an important part of UnicornShell's national industrial layout.

Shanghai UnicornShell has been dedicated to plant-based empty capsules for 27 years and positions itself as a global leader in intelligent manufacturing of plant-based capsules. Its products are sold to more than 60 countries and regions worldwide.