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The impact of the University of Illinois at Chicago-based Vietnam-Laos International Cooperative Biodiversity Group (ICBG) Program "Studies on Biodiversity of Vietnam and Laos", which has been in operation for the period of 1998-2005, touches on five major areas of endeavor: (a) biodiversity inventory and conservation; (b) studies on medicinal plants; (c) drug discovery and development; (d) economic development; and (e) issues on intellectual property rights and benefit sharing in natural products drug discovery and development. Highlights are presented and the significance is discussed.

There is a need for less expensive alternative therapies, especially in the treatment of chronic illnesses. This presentation addresses the issues inherent in the use of natural products in a drug-discovery or development program and reviews a model program developed by the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH) and administered by the Fogarty International Center at the NIH. Eighty percent (80%) of the world's population relies on medicinal plants for their primary health care. The World Health Organization has been promoting traditional medicine as a source of less expensive, comprehensive medical care, especially in developing countries. Natural products have also been successful in drug development. Over 50% of the best-selling pharmaceuticals in use today are derived from natural products. In a natural-product drug development program, it is the diversity of the natural products that is especially interesting. Thanks to technologic advances, now is a good time to be looking for new drugs in the natural-product arena. But there are major hurdles to overcome in a natural-products development program, namely, time-to-lead, supply, and ownership. Time-to-lead is complex because most natural products are mixtures or crude extracts. It can be very difficult to isolate the active principles and elucidate their structures. The difficulty of obtaining sufficient supply is often given as a reason for not becoming involved in natural-product drug development or discovery. This presentation details some ways these seeming hurdles can be overcome. The concept of ownership has changed dramatically in recent years. Until recently, genetic resources were considered to belong to no one and to therefore be the heritage of everyone. The United Nations Convention on Biodiversity and the meetings in Rio de Janeiro in 1992, redefined biodiversity ownership. Genetic biodiversity has a potential value and belongs to the country of origin. The International Conservation of Biodiversity Groups (ICBGs) was founded in 1992 to address such issues. This presentation discusses the importance of integrating efforts in conservation, economic development, and drug development into one program. The presentation details a collaboration that includes an ICBG based at the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research and its four partner organizations and discusses the associated programs the collaboration has underway.

The National Cancer Institute (NCI) is the US Government's principal agency for research on the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of cancer. A critical component of the Institute's mission is the identification and development of new and promising treatments for cancer and AIDS. For many years these efforts have included a program to investigate natural products for potential new therapeutic agents. In 1986, with the advent of new screening techniques, the National Cancer Institute stepped up its exploration of natural products and began world-wide collections of plants in tropical and subtropical regions. In recognition of the principles of the Biodiversity Treaty, NCI appreciates that continued access to the natural products of these countries depends on the Institute's ability to recognize the contributions of these source countries and their indigenous peoples, and to provide them adequate incentives to conserve their natural resources for the purposes of drug discovery. Accomplishing this goal presented several legal issues for the National Cancer Institute. As an agency of the US government, the NCI has an adjunct statutory mission to facilitate the transfer of technology developed through the Institute's programs into the private sector for further development and commercialization, and NCI operates under a national policy to use the patent system to transfer Federally supported research to the private domestic sector. Reliance on patent law may limit the Institute's ability to recognize the rights of source countries and their indigenous people and provide compensation for their contributions. However, other legal instruments, such as contracts, can serve as interim measures to provide compensation to source countries and indigenous populations. The National Cancer Institute's Letter of Collection agreement (LOC, formerly the "Letter of Intent'), is an example of an alternative means that "fills-in the gaps' created by patent law and through which source countries may share in the benefits of natural product development.