IIR Industry Alert: New Multibillion Blockbuster Obesity Drug Coming From Traditional African Plant And Healing Knowledge

After a trail of stops and starts, the elusive molecule, which is the active compound the plant, was indentified and patented in the 1990's by the CSIR using the latest technology.

HOUSTON -- August 5, 2002 -- Researched by Industrialinfo.com (Industrial Information Resources, Incorporated; Houston, Texas). Traditional African healers and desert nomads are crucial elements in the efforts of two major pharmaceutical companies who, along with all pharma companies, are intensifying and broadening their techniques to find winners in the new generation of bio-based drugs. These are needed to replace the current generation of market leading proprietary products that have a limited patent lifespan before giving way to generic products. The pharmaceutical industrys output of new drugs has been sluggish in the last 20 years despite a 1,500% increase in research and development spending over the period.

Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) has just opened a Botanical Supplies Unit (BSU) in partnership with Phytopharm (LSE:PYM.L) (London, United Kingdom) at the state funded CSIRs (Council for Scientific and Industrial Research) Chemtek division near Pretoria in South Africa. In 1999 the two companies built the multi-million dollar Clinical Supplies Unit (CSU) at the CSIR/Chemtek. The CSU will enable the early clinical validation of patented botanicals, prior to licensing to multinational pharmaceutical companies. It will develop and supply small quantities of pharmaceutical raw material based on indigenous plants. The BSU will transform current traditional medicines into products that can be validated scientifically and are of acceptable quality and proven safety and efficacy. These units and their applications are unique in the world.

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Established in 1983, Industrial Information Resources Inc. (IIR) is a leading source for industrial market information covering the industrial process, manufacturing, and energy related markets. IIR tracks project spending trends in the Pharmaceutical-Biotech industry and has recently released the 2002 U.S. Pharmaceutical-Biotech Forecast. For more information on trends and upcoming construction activities in the Pharmaceutical-Biotech markets as well as other industrial sectors send inquiries to pharmabiogroup@industrialinfo.com or visit us at www.industrialinfo.com.