General expert consensus on application of network pharmacology in the research and development of new traditional Chinese medicine drugs

The research and development of new traditional Chinese medicine drugs has gradually formed a new system based on the combination of traditional Chinese medicine theory, human experience, and clinical trials (referred to as the "three combinations"). However, given the characteristics of traditional Chinese medicine's "syndrome differentiation and treatment" and "diverse components and complex mechanisms", there are still problems in the current research and development of new traditional Chinese medicine drugs, such as insufficient research on the material basis and overall mechanism of action, and incomplete evidence chain system. At the same time, there are still many challenges in collecting human experience, evaluating clinical efficacy, and controlling the quality of active ingredients, which restrict the innovation process of research and development of new traditional Chinese medicine drugs. Network pharmacology, based on the core theory of "network targets", breaks through the limitations of the traditional "single target" reduction analysis research model, emphasizing the comprehensive effects of disease or syndrome biological networks as targets to characterize the overall regulatory mechanism of traditional Chinese medicine prescriptions. This is in line with the idea of the holistic view of traditional Chinese medicine, providing a new method consistent with the holistic view of traditional Chinese medicine for studying the complex mechanism of action of traditional Chinese medicine and the development of new traditional Chinese medicine drugs. It is internationally recognized as a "next generation of drug research model". In order to promote the research of new tools, methods, and standards for the evaluation of traditional Chinese medicine, and to break through the fundamental, critical, and cutting-edge technical challenges in the field of traditional Chinese medicine regulation, this consensus aims to explore the characteristics, progress, challenges, applicable paths, and specific application situations of network pharmacology as a new theory, method, and tool applied to the research and development of traditional Chinese medicine new drugs, in order to improve the quality of research and development of traditional Chinese medicine new drugs and accelerate the efficiency of research and development of new traditional Chinese medicine products.