Why Panama?
Panama has more forest cover than any other Central American country and is considered a threatened biodiversity hotspot. Its unique position as a biological corridor joining the northern and southern hemispheres has implications for both regional and international conservation strategies.

Immediate and long-lasting benefits to Panama
To promote conservation and sustainable bioprospecting in Panama, the majority of the research is conducted in Panama. The emphasis on training and technology transfer creates immediate benefits to Panama and helps establish the scientific infrastructure necessary to ensure the future of drug discovery after the termination of the grant. Thus jobs and research opportunities are explicitly linked to intact rainforests. This approach provides immediate and guaranteed benefits, whereas relying solely on future royalties has a very low probability of providing benefits to the host country.

Drug discovery
Ecological research is used to target collections towards species and tissues that have a high biological activity. With well equipped laboratories close to the field sites, we are able to make extracts from fresh samples, minimizing the loss of active compounds.

The project also places a large emphasis on training and technology transfer to Panama. We have established bioassays with HIV and cancer at the University of Panama. Bioassays for several tropical diseases (malaria, leishmaniasis and Chagas' disease) are conducted at INDICASAT. Compounds that are active in these bioassays are purified at the University of Panama. In addition, protein extracts are tested at the University of Panama for activity against aphids and whitefly, crop pests that are some of the major pests worldwide.

We are collaborating with Novartis, a major pharmaceutical organization that conducts bioassays on compounds that have been consistently active in cancer bioassays conducted in Panama.

Benefit sharing
In addition to investment in the development of Panamanian institutions and scientists, any revenue arising from the discovery of a novel medicine or agricultural product will be shared among the Panamanian-based institutions. The largest share will go to two Panamanian environmental trust funds, one to support community-based conservation programs and the other to promote the establishment and maintenance of national parks in Panama. The third share will be split evenly among the Panamanian-based institutions involved in the research efforts.

[Home]    [About ICBG-Panama]    [Contact Us!]