Biodiversity prospecting, and ethnobotanical search methods that draw on the medicinal knowledge of traditional societies, are mechanisms of drug discovery with the potential to reward the conservers of biological resources. Shaman Pharmaceuticals aspired to be a model of ethnobotanical bioprospecting, discovering new medicines while sharing benefits with indigenous people. Shaman's failure to market any new pharmaceutical products and its ultimate bankruptcy were heralded as marking the failure, and future abandonment, of ethnobotanical bioprospecting. This analysis of Shaman's history suggests that risks inherent in drug development, company risk associated with Shaman's drug development strategy, and technological change in the industry all contributed to its failure. The authors examine the opportunities and constraints encountered in bioprospecting and ethnobotanical searches and argue that natural products will remain important to drug development. Technological change, however, means that new models and new institutional structures are required for drug development based on natural products.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
Agnew, B. (2000). When pharma merges, R & D is the dowry.Science,287, 1952-1953.
2.
Artuso, A. (1997).Drugs of natural origin: Economic and policy aspects of discovery, development, and marketing. New York: Pharmaceutical Products Press.
3.
Aylward, B. (1995). The role of plant screening and plant supply in biodiversity conservation, drug development, and health care. In T. Swanson (Ed.),Intellectual property rights and biodiversity conservation (pp. 93-126). Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
4.
Baker, J. T., Borris, R. P., Carté, B., Cordell, G. A., Soejarto, D. D., Cragg, G. M., et al. (1995). Natural product drug discovery and development: New perspectives on international collaboration.Journal of Natural Products,58(9), 1325-1357.
5.
Balick, M. J., Arvigo, R., Shropshire, G., & Mendelsohn, R. (1996). Ethnopharmacological studies and biological conservation in Belize. In M. J. Balick, E. Elisabetsky, & S. A. Laird (Eds.),Medicinal resources of the tropical forest: Biodiversity and its importance to human health (pp. 326-333). New York: Columbia University Press.
6.
Berlin, B., & Berlin, E. A. (1994). Anthropological issues in medical ethnobotany. In D. J. Chadwick & J. Marsh (Eds.),Ethnobotany and the search for new drugs (pp. 246-265). Chichester, UK: Wiley.
7.
Bertels, S., Frormann, S., Jas, G., & Bindseil, K. U. (1999). Synergistic use of combinatorial and natural product chemistry. In S. Grabley & R. Thiericke (Eds.),Drug discovery from nature (pp. 72-105). Berlin, Germany: Springer.
8.
Blondelle, S. E., & Houghton, R. A. (1999). Synthetic combinatorial libraries: Anew tool for antimicrobial agent discovery. In S. Grabley & R. Thiericke (Eds.),Drug discovery from nature (pp. 311-319). Berlin, Germany: Springer.
9.
Borges, J. R. (1999).The sources of SB-Normal Stool Formula (Croton lechleri): An overview on sustainability and collaboration with indigenous peoples. Retrieved March 29, 2000, from http://www/shamanbotanicals.com/sustain.htm
10.
Camberos, S. (1999, May 25-27).De Shaman Pharmaceuticals a Shaman Botanicals [From Shaman Pharmaceuticals to Shaman Botanicals]. Paper presented at the Latin American Workshop on Access to Genetic Resources, Cancun, Mexico.
11.
Carr, G. (1998, February 21). The pharmaceutical industry.The Economist, 1-18.
12.
Carr, T. A., Pedersen, H. L., & Ramaswamy, S. (1993). Rain forest entrepreneurs: Cashing in on conservation.Environment,35(7), 33-38.
13.
Cincotta, R. P., & Engelman, R. (2000).Nature's place: Human population and the future of biological diversity. Washington, DC: Population Action International.
14.
Coalition Against Biopiracy. (n.d.).Captain Hook award nominees. Retrieved May 23, 2000, from http://www.twm.co.nz/%7Esai/CptHook.htm
15.
Conte, L. A. (1996). Shaman Pharmaceuticals' approach to drug development. In M. J. Balick, E. Elisabetsky, & S. A. Laird (Eds.),Medicinal resources of the tropical forest: Biodiversity and its importance to human health (pp. 94-100). New York: Columbia University Press.
16.
Cox, P. A. (1994). The ethnobotanical approach to drug discovery: Strengths and limitations. In D. J. Chadwick & J. Marsh (Eds.),Ethnobotany and the search for new drugs (pp. 25-41). Chichester, UK: Wiley.
17.
Cragg, G. M., Boyd, M. R., Grever, M. R., & Schepartz, S. A. (1994). Policies for international collaboration and compensation in drug discovery and development at the United States National Cancer Institute, the NCI Letter of Collection. In T. Greaves (Ed.),Intellectual property rights for indigenous people, a sourcebook (pp. 85-98). Oklahoma City, OK: Society for Applied Anthropology.
18.
Cragg, G. M., Newman, D. J., & Snader, K. M. (1997). Natural products in drug discovery and development.Journal of Natural Products,60, 52-60.
19.
Crook, C. (2001).Biodiversity prospecting agreements: Evaluating their economic and conservation benefits in Costa Rica and Peru. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, Department of Geography, University of Toronto, Canada.
20.
Crook, C., & Clapp, R. A. (1998). Is market-oriented forest conservation a contradiction in terms?Environmental Conservation,25(2), 131-145.
21.
Crucible Group. (1994).People, plants, and patents. Ottawa, Canada: International Development Research Centre.
22.
Davidson, D., Hylands, P. J., Sharp, W. R., & Stahlhut, R. W. (1996). Development of pharmaceutical companies based on plant products: Suggested approaches. In M. J. Balick, E. Elisabetsky, & S. A. Laird (Eds.),Medicinal resources of the tropical forest: Biodiversity and its importance to human health (pp. 19-40). New York: Columbia University Press.
23.
Drews, J. (2000). Drug discovery: A historical perspective.Science,287, 1960-1964.
24.
Elisabetsky, E., & Savio, D. N. (1990). Ethnopharmacology and its role in Third World countries.Ambio,19(8), 419-421.
25.
Ethnobotany: Shaman loses its magic. (1999, February 20).The Economist, p. 77-77.
26.
Farnsworth, N. R. (1988). Screening plants for new medicines. In E. O. Wilson (Ed.), Biodiversity (pp. 83-97). Washington, DC: National Academy Press.
27.
Farnsworth, N. R. (1994). Ethnopharmacology and drug development. In D. J. Chadwick & J. Marsh (Eds.),Ethnobotany and the search for new drugs (pp. 42-59). Chichester, UK: Wiley.
28.
Farnsworth, N. R., & Soejarto, D. D. (1985). Potential consequence of plant extinction in the United States on the current and future availability of prescription drugs.Economic Botany,39(3), 231-240.
29.
Feinsilver, J. (1996). Prospeccion de la biodiversidad: Potencialidades para los paises en desarrollo [Biodiversity prospecting: Potentialities for developing countries].Revista de la CEPAL [Review of the Economic Commission for Latin America],60, 111-128.
30.
Gibbs, J. B. (2000). Mechanism-based target identification and drug discovery in cancer research.Science,287, 1969-1973.
31.
Gowdy, J. M. (1997). The value of biodiversity: Markets, society, and ecosystems.Land Economics,73(1), 25-41.
32.
Grabley, S., & Thiericke, R. (1999). Recent developments in drug discovery technologies. In S. Grabley & R. Thiericke (Eds.),Drug discovery from nature (pp. 38-48). Berlin, Germany: Springer.
33.
Grifo, F. T., Newman, D., Fairfield, A., Grupenhoff, J. T., & Bhattachariya, B. (1997). The origins of prescription drugs. In F. T. Grifo & J. Rosenthal (Eds.),Biodiversity and human health (pp. 131-161). Washington, DC: Island Press.
34.
Industry Analyzer. (2000). Retrieved May 23, 2000, from http://www.bigcharts.com/industry/marketwatch-com
35.
International Labour Organization (ILO). (1989, June 27).ILO Convention 169 concerning indigenous and tribal peoples in independent countries. Geneva, Switzerland: Author.
36.
Joyce, C. (1992). Western medicine men return to the field.BioScience,42(6), 399-403.
37.
King, S. R. (1992). Pharmaceutical discovery, ethnobotany, tropical forests, and reciprocity: Integrating indigenous knowledge, conservation, and sustainable development. In M. Plotkin & L. Famolare (Eds.),Sustainable harvest and marketing of rain forest products(pp. 231-238). Washington, DC: Island Press.
38.
King, S. R. (1994). Establishing reciprocity: Biodiversity, conservation, and new models for cooperation between forest-dwelling peoples and the pharmaceutical industry. In T. Greaves (Ed.),Intellectual property rights for indigenous people, a sourcebook (pp. 71-82). Oklahoma City, OK: Society for Applied Anthropology.
39.
King, S. R. (1996). Conservation and tropical medicinal plant research. In M. J. Balick, E. Elisabetsky, & S. A. Laird (Eds.),Medicinal resources of the tropical forest: Biodiversity and its importance to human health (pp. 63-74). New York: Columbia University Press.
40.
King, S. R, Carlson, T. J., & Moran, K. (1996). Biological diversity, indigenous knowledge, drug discovery, and intellectual property rights. In S. Brush & D. Stabinski (Eds.), Valuing local knowledge: Indigenous people and intellectual property rights (pp. 167-185). Washington, DC: Island Press.
41.
King, S. R., & Tempesta, M. S. (1994). From shaman to human clinical trials: The role of industry in ethnobotany, conservation, and community reciprocity. In D. J. Chadwick & J. Marsh (Eds.),Ethnobotany and the search for new drugs (pp. 197-213). Chichester, UK: Wiley.
42.
Koch, C., Neumann, T., Thiericke, R., & Grabley, S. (1999). Acentral natural product pool— New approach in drug discovery strategies. In S. Grabley & R. Thiericke (Eds.),Drug discovery from nature (pp. 51-55). Berlin, Germany: Springer.
43.
Kulkowsky, J., Culnan, D. M., Roman, J., Dornadula, G., Schnell, M., Boyd, M. R., & Pomerantz, R. J. (in press). Prostratin: Activation of latent HIV-1 expression suggests a potential inductive adjuvant therapy for HAART.Blood.
44.
Laird, S. A., & ten Kate, K. (1999). Natural products and the pharmaceutical industry. In K. ten Kate & S. A. Laird (Eds.),The commercial use of biodiversity: Access to genetic resources and benefit-sharing (pp. 34-77). London: Earthscan.
45.
Lewis, W. H. (2000). Ethnopharmacology and the search for new therapeutics. In P. E. Minnis & W. J. Elisens (Eds.),Biodiversity and native America (pp. 74-96). Norman: University of Oklahoma Press.
46.
Lipinsky, C. A., Lombardo, F., Dominy, B. W., & Feeney, P. J. (1997). Experimental and computational approaches to estimate solubility and permeability in drug discovery and development settings.Advanced Drug Delivery Review,23, 3-25.
47.
Luo, J., Fort, D. M., Carlson, T. J., Noamesi, B. K., nii-Amon-Kotei, D., King, S. R., et al. (1998).Cryptolepis sanguinolenta: An ethnobotanical approach to drug discovery and the isolation of a potentially useful new antihyperglycemic agent.Diabetic Medicine, 15(5), 367-374.
48.
McCamant, J. (1998, January). Update: Shaman Pharmaceuticals.Worth, p. 38-38.
49.
McNeely, J. A., Miller, K. R., Reid, W. V., Mittermeier, R. A., & Werner, T. B. (1990).Conserving the World's Biological Diversity. Philadelphia: World Bank.
50.
Mendelsohn, R., & Balick, M. J. (1995). The value of undiscovered pharmaceuticals in tropical forests.Economic Botany,49(2), 223-228.
51.
Moran, K. (1997). Returning benefits from ethnobotanical drug discovery to native communities. In F. Grifo & J. Rosenthal (Eds.),Biodiversity and human health (pp. 243-263). Washington, DC: Island Press.
52.
Myers, N. (1983).A wealth of wild species: Storehouse for human welfare. Boulder, CO: Westview.
53.
Panchagnula, R., & Thomas, N. S. (2000). Biopharmaceutics and pharmacokinetics in drug research.International Journal of Pharmaceutics,201, 131-150
54.
Pearce, D., Markandya, A., & Barbier, E. (1992).Blueprint for a green economy. London: Earthscan.
55.
Pearce, D., & Puroshothaman, S. (1995). The economic value of plant-based pharmaceuticals. In T. Swanson (Ed.),Intellectual property rights and biodiversity conservation(pp. 127-139). Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
56.
Pinco, R. G. (1998). The evolving status of herbals and phytomedicines in the United States. In T. R. Tomlinson & O. Akerele (Eds.),Medicinal plants: Their role in health and biodiversity (pp. 198-204). Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press.
57.
Principe, P. P. (1991). Valuing the biodiversity of medicinal plants. In O. Akerele, V. Heywood, & H. Synge (Eds.),The conservation of medicinal plants (pp. 79-125). Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
58.
Rausser, G., & Small, A. (2000). Valuing research leads: Bioprospecting and the conservation of genetic resources.Journal of Political Economy,108(11), 173-206.
59.
Reid, W. V., Barber, C. V., & La Vina, A. (1995). Translating genetic resource rights into sustainable development: Gene cooperatives, the biotrade, and lessons from the Philippines.Plant Genetic Resources Newsletter,102, 1-17.
60.
Reid, W. V., Laird, S. A., Meyer, C. A., Gamez, R., Sittenfeld, A., Janzen, D. H., et al. (1993). Anew lease on life. In W. V. Reid, S. A. Laird, C. A. Meyer, R. Gamez, A. Sittenfeld, D. H. Janzen, M. A. Gollin, & C. Juma (Eds.),Biodiversity prospecting: Using genetic resources for sustainable development (pp. 1-52). Washington, DC: World Resources Institute.
61.
Reid, W. V., & Miller, K. (1989).Keeping options alive: The scientific basis for conserving biodiversity. Washington, DC: World Resources Institute.
62.
Reyes, V. (1996, March). The value of sangre de drago.Seedling: The Quarterly Newsletter of Genetic Resource Action International. Available from www.grain/org/publications/mar96/mar963.htm
63.
Richter, R. K., & Carlson, T. (1998). Reporting biological assay results on tropical medicinal plants to host country collaborators.Journal of Ethnopharmacology,62, 85-88.
64.
Rosenthal, J. P. (1997). Equitable sharing of biodiversity benefits: Agreements on genetic resources. InInvesting in biological diversity: Proceedings of the Cairns Conference (Proceedings of an OECD conference in Cairns, Queensland in 1996) (pp. 253-274). Paris: Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development.
65.
Schreiber, S. (2000). Target-oriented and diversity-oriented organic synthesis in drug discovery.Science,287, 1964-1969.
66.
Sedjo, R. A., & Simpson, R. D. (1995). Property rights, externalities, and biodiversity. In T. M. Swanson (Ed.),The economics and ecology of biodiversity decline: The forces driving global change (pp. 79-88). Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
67.
Shaman initiates open-label study of SP-303/Provir: Provides access to diarrhea treatment for people with AIDS. (1999, January 12).Business Wire.
68.
Shaman leads the way to innovative responsible investing: Shaman provides royalty to the HIV/AIDS community while raising funds. (1998, November 19).Business Wire.
69.
Shaman Pharmaceuticals. (1996).Annual report. San Francisco: Author.
70.
Shaman Pharmaceuticals. (1997a).Annual report. San Francisco: Author.
71.
Shaman Pharmaceuticals. (1997b, October 30).Shaman announces positive results and continuation of development of Provir for treatment of AIDS diarrhea and status of Provir acute watery diarrhea studies [Press release]. San Francisco: Author.
72.
Shaman Pharmaceuticals. (1999, November 16). Shaman Pharmaceuticals, Inc. files quarterly report (10-Q) (EDGAR Online SEC Filings). Retrieved November 18, 1999, from http://www.edgar-online.com
73.
Shaman Pharmaceuticals. (2000, August 22). Shaman positioned to provide natural medicine alternatives [Press release].Business Wire.
74.
Shaman Pharmaceuticals. (2001, January 5).Significant developments report for Shaman Pharmaceuticals [Press release]. Retrieved January 23, 2001, from http://www.yahoo.marketguide.com
75.
Shaman Pharmaceuticals. (n.d.).El manejo sostenible de sangre de drago o sangre de grado: Material educativo [Sustainable management of dragon's blood or blood of grade: Educational material]. Lima, Peru: Author.
76.
Shaman receives fast track product designation for SP-303/Provir, AIDS anti-diarrhea compound. (1997, May 7).Business Wire.
77.
Shaman suspends clinical development of Virend topical treatment for herpes. (1998, January 30).Business Wire.
78.
Simpson, R. D., Sedjo, R. A., & Reid, J. W. (1996). Valuing biodiversity for use in pharmaceutical research.Journal of Political Economy,104(1), 163-185.
79.
Slish, D. F., Ueda, H., Arvigo, R., & Balick, M. (1999). Ethnobotany in the search for vasoactive herbal medicines.Journal of Ethnopharmacology,66, 159-165.
80.
Stewart, K., Sherman, A., & Sherman, C. (1998, March). Drug firms enter industry.Natural Foods Merchandiser. Retrieved June 8, 2000, from http://www.nfm-online.com/nfm_backs/Mar_98/drugfirms.html
81.
Swanson, T. M., & Barbier, E. (1992).Economics for the wilds: Wildlife, diversity, and development. Washington, DC: Island Press.
82.
ten Kate, K. (1995).Biopiracy or green petroleum? Expectations and best practices in bioprospecting. London: Overseas Development Administration.
83.
Thiel, K. A (1999-2000). Creating biodiversity: Bioprospecting for the next blockbuster drug.Biopeople,25, 40-48.
84.
Thiericke, R., Grabley, S., & Geschwill, K. (1999). Automation strategies in drug discovery. In S. Grabley & R. Thiericke (Eds.),Drug discovery from nature (pp. 56-71). Berlin, Germany: Springer.
85.
U.S. herbal market nearing saturation. (1999, September 29).Herb World News Online. Retrieved June 18, 2000, from www.herbs.org/current/herbsaturation.html
86.
Vagelos, P. R. (1991). Are prescription drug prices high?Science,252, 1081-1084.
87.
Working Group on Indigenous Populations (WGIP). (1993).UN draft declaration on the rights of indigenous peoples [Agreed to at 11th session of WGIP].
88.
Wilson, E. O. (1992).The diversity of life. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
89.
World Resources Institute. (1992).Global biodiversity strategy: Guidelines for action to save, study, and use earth' biotic wealth sustainably and equitably. Baltimore, MD: Author.
90.
World Resources Institute. (1993).Asample of companies active in plant and other natural product collection and screening. Available from http://www.wri.org/wri/biodiv/b01-bp.html
91.
Ybarra, M. (2000). It's a jungle out there.San Jose Mercury News. Available from http://www.mercurycenter.com/svtech/news/special/shaman/story.htm
