US
& PERUVIAN COMPANIES COLLABORATE TO PRODUCE NATURAL MEDICINES
BASED ON INDIGENOUS KNOWLEDGE
From Lexis-Nexis,
dated September 2004.
[MFB
Note: I cannot verify this article's claim that the two firms in
question are in full compliance with the CBD and that they are collaborating
with indigenous communities in Peru. Neither firm's website provides
supporting documentation.]
Unigen Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Broomfield, Colo., a leading research
and development facility and supplier of proprietary, biologically
active plant-derived ingredients to the natural products and pharmaceutical
industries, has entered into a collaboration agreement for plant
collection and product development with Inca Health, an agro-industrial
company based in Lima, Peru.
Unigen and Inca Health will work closely together with indigenous
tribes to collect native plants from the Peruvian Amazon Rainforest
and Andes Mountains that have a history of ethnomedicinal use in
order to identify lead compounds for the development of pharmaceutical,
nutraceutical, cosmeceutical and functional food products. Applying
natural product chemistry and high throughput screening, Unigen
will fractionate the Peruvian plant extracts for further laboratory
testing in appropriate biological, biochemical, genomic, and proteomic
models. "The Peruvian Rainforest-the richest biological incubator
on the planet supporting millions of plant, animal and insect species-has
long been considered a crucial link between humans and nature,"
said Dr. Qi Jia, Unigen's vice president of Scientific Affairs.
"Inca Health's vast pharmacognosy and production experience
with Peru's biodiversity, along with Unigen's state-of-the-art natural
product research laboratories, provides the perfect match for developing
novel health products."
According to Adrian Poblete Espinosa, president of Inca Health,
"Many secrets and untold botanical treasures await to be discovered
in our rainforests and mountains-plants that are rich in beneficial
nutrients, phytochemicals and active constituents. By partnering
with Unigen Pharmaceuticals, we are confident that we will jointly
develop health products that will benefit many people the world
over." Both Unigen and Inca Health operate in full compliance
with the United Nations Convention of Biodiversity, also known as
the Biodiversity Treaty, with a commitment to promoting conservation
and sustainable use of tropical medicinal plants native to Peru,
and providing technology transfer, benefit sharing and recognition
of the value of traditional knowledge to the source country, as
well as supporting economic development of local communities.
About Inca Health Inca Health is an agro-industrial company based
in Lima, Peru, that manufactures natural botanical extracts cultivated
from the Peruvian Amazon Rainforest and Andes Mountains by its corporate
scientists, local staff and indigenous tribes. Inca Health has a
team of research scientists involved in exploring and studying new
applications for Rainforest Botanicals, including Maca and Lutein,
for which Inca Health holds extraction patents. Inca Health operates
out of a GMP-rated facility and guarantees consistent quality in
its raw materials and finished products. Further information can
be obtained at http://www.incahealth.com.
About Unigen Pharmaceuticals, Inc. Unigen is a leading natural products
research and development company and proprietary ingredients supplier.
The company is dedicated to the discovery of botanically derived
therapeutic compounds that address consumer health needs and help
improve the quality of human life. Its research and discovery process
includes extensive work at both the human cell and gene level. Unigen,
and sister company Aloecorp, are subsidiaries of Univera, Inc. Unigen
and Aloecorp each focus on identifying and studying the unique ingredients
of medicinal botanicals (Aloecorp's focus is on Aloe vera) and then
formulating proprietary raw materials for use in cosmeceutical,
nutraceutical and pharmaceutical products. For more information,
visit http://www.unigenpharma.com.
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