Preface Drug Discovery, Economic Development And Conservation: The International Cooperative Biodiversity Groups

The role of weeds as sources of pharmaceuticals

“…From 1989 to 1995, over 60% of approved drugs and pre-NDA candidates in these disease areas were from natural products (Cragg et al, 1997). While natural products drug discovery efforts increasingly focus more on micro-organisms and fungi, research continues with vascular plants and much of this work is in areas of high biodiversity and endemism such as the humid tropics (Rosenthal, 1997).…”

Ethnobotany/ethnopharmacology and mass bioprospecting: Issues on intellectual property and benefit-sharing

“…A complete review of the ICBGs has been published (Rosenthal and Pezzuto, 1999). The University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC)-based ICBG, known simply as "UIC ICBG" or "Studies on Biodiversity of Vietnam and Laos" (Soejarto et al, 1999(Soejarto et al, ,b, 2004a, serves as a model for the implementation of the ICBG principles, which are, ultimately, the principles of the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity.…”

“…The implementation of this program is based on the belief that the discovery and development of pharmaceutical and other useful agents from the world's biodiversity can, under appropriate circumstances, promote scientific capacity development and economic incentives to conserve the biological resources from which these products are derived (Fogarty International Center, 2004). This unique effort is undertaken in such a way that local communities and other source country organizations can derive direct benefits from the effort and, ultimately, from their diverse biological resources, so that benefit-sharing may provide clear incentives for preservation and sustainable use of the biodiversity (Rosenthal, 1996(Rosenthal, , 1997Fogarty International Center, 2004).…”

Natures Medicines: Traditional Knowledge and Intellectual Property Management. Case Studies from the National Institutes of Health (NIH), USA

“…The program has completed two 5-year cycles with eight (8) cooperative groups being funded over the first (1993-94) and second (1997) round of awards. These projects have been described in detail in a special publication [19]. A third round of awards is in mid cycle, including 4 new groups.…”