Chinese pharmacologist Tu Youyou, now 85, became China's first medicine Nobel laureate with the announcement that she was one of three scientists awarded the 2015 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for their work in developing effective drugs against parasitic diseases.

Wang Guoqiang, vice-minister of China’s National Health and Family Planning Commission (NHFPC) congratulated Tu on her award on October 5.

Tu, a Chinese trained pharmacologist and a researcher at the China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences in Beijing, reviewed the process of developing Artemisinin, a drug therapy for malaria that has saved millions of lives across the globe, especially in the developing world. “Artemisinin is a gift that Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) gives to the global people,” Tu said that the discovery of Artemisinin is an honor for TCM to win the world’s recognition.