IT WAS not until he saw dramatic photographs of patients before and after a clinical trial that Christian Hogg began to feel fulfilled by his work with traditional Chinese medicines.
The 43-year-old Scot, who is chief executive of Hutchison China
MediTech (Chi-Med), is on a mission to bring Chinese medicines to the West, in the form of both modern drugs and luxury healthcare products.
Hogg, who grew up in Jedburgh and went to school at George Watson's College in Edinburgh, founded Chi-Med in 2000 and became its chief executive in 2006, when the company floated on London's alternative investment market (Aim).
He may have achieved a lot in the world of business but it was the striking results of a bowel disease drug trial that made Hogg think more deeply about the work his company is carrying out in Asia.
Hogg said: "We tested this drug on about 100 ulcerative colitis sufferers and we were able to take photographs – colonoscopies – before and after of these patients.
"It was just unbelievably encouraging to see the before and after shots. I've never seen anything like it in my life.
"They went from completely inflamed and obviously extremely painful to completely cured in a matter of weeks. It's extremely fulfilling to see that because I know that ulcerative colitis and intestinal bowel diseases, such as Crohn's disease, are just horrible diseases.
"With ulcerative colitis, for example, 40 per cent of all sufferers have to have their colon removed and end up having a plastic bag hanging off their abdomen.
"It's a very sad disease and extremely fulfilling and encouraging to see some of our work making headway there."
Away from the development of drugs based on traditional Chinese herbal cures, Chi-Med is already selling its health and beauty products in the West.
Sen, the company's consumer arm, has a range of about 250 products, which Hogg describes as the "Molton Brown of Chinese medicine".
Hogg added: "We make very high-end body care products, with essential oils and herbal extracts in them. We also make a very high-end skincare line and also a big range of food and beverages, primarily Chinese and herbal teas."
Sen also runs a chain of luxury Chinese medicine shops in London.
The first store opened in Mayfair in 2002 and Sen's shops now occupy some of London's most exclusive addresses, including Kensington, the City and a concession inside Harvey Nichols's Knightsbridge store.
Hogg has plans to open four or five more stores this year, all inside London. But he has not ruled out opening a Sen shop north of the Border.
"We do extremely well in Harvey Nichols in Knightsbridge, where we have a 900-foot shop," he explains. "I think it would be a pretty obvious move for us to go up to Edinburgh's Harvey Nichols or maybe even a stand-alone unit somewhere on George Street."
Though he and his young family live in Hong Kong, Scotland is still close to Hogg's heart.
He studied civil engineering at Edinburgh University and graduated with a BSc before heading to the United States. He gained a master of business administration (MBA) degree at Tennessee University and was then recruited to Proctor & Gambles's (P&G) world headquarters in Cincinnati.
It was P&G that first took Hogg to China.
Hogg said: "I stayed there (Cincinnati] for six years and then they came to me one day and said 'Big opportunity young man – we want you to launch a laundry detergent business in China' so off I went."
He rose through the ranks, before leaving P&G to join Hutchison Whampoa, Chi-Med's parent company.
Though the clinical trials being carried out on Chi-Med's drugs clearly excite Hogg, he also has firm business plans for the coming years. He said he wanted to improve Chi-Med's share price, which he said had "taken a bit of a hammering" along with the rest of the healthcare sector in the UK following the company's Aim floatation.
"What we promised people was to go out and develop a very big China healthcare business through acquisitions, and right now we're working on all kinds of acquisition opportunities in China," Hogg said.
Selling Sen products in other shops is also high on Hogg's list of priorities. As well as its Superdrug and Perfume Shop brands in the UK, Hutchison owns Perfumeries Marionnaud, which has 1,200 shops across Europe, 600 of which are in France.
It appears activity in this area may be imminent: Hogg said the next step for Sen would be to start selling its products in other shops and Hutchison's own premises would seem like logical partners for the Chi-Med.
And his own plans? Hogg appears to be extremely motivated by his work among Hong Kong's skyscrapers but he hasn't ruled out return to Scotland one day.
"I'd love to come home at some point," he admits. "My family is still in Peebles so I get there at least once a year. I have to get back to see the green grass."
The full article contains 876 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
