Melanesia Experiences in Marine Drug Discovery at University of

the South Pacific”

Prof. B. Aalbersberg and K.-D. Feussner

CDDC, IAS, USP

Bioprospecting - Background

• 25-50% of western medicines are derived from natural sources (e.g. aspirin, quinine, many anti-cancer agents and anti biotic drugs)

• Sales near $800 billion• Process takes 15–20 years and costs $800 million• 1 in 10,000 chance to develop medicine from given

organism

Bioprospecting Process - 1

1. Permitting

2. Collecting

3. Extraction

4. Bioactivity Testing

5. Fractionation and Purification

6. Structure elucidation

Bioprospecting Process - 2

7. Organism Identification and Recollection

8. Structure – Activity Relationships

9. Toxicology Tests

10. Clinical Trials

11. Pray

Microbial Bioprospecting

1. Plating substrate

2. Colony Isolation and Purification

3. Fermentation

4. Extraction of Ferment

5. As in macroorganisms

Genetic Material

• DNA can be extracted, amplified and sequenced• Sections of genome that are responsible for various

functions (diseases, chemical production) can be identified

Work at USP

1. Permitting

2. Collecting

3. Extraction

4. Bioactivity Testing

5. Fractionation and Purification

6. Structure elucidation

Types of Samples

• Organism• Extracted chemicals• Extracted DNA

Convention on Biological Diversity and Access and Benefit Sharing• Prior informed consent• Fair agreement on mutually agreed terms• Participation and sharing of benefits• Environmentally sound uses

Types of Benefits

• Cash (sample fee and royalties)• Help in resource management• Voucher specimen• Legal review• Participation in work and capacity building• Sharing results• Transfer of technology• Access to biotech outcomes

ABS and Fiji

• 1995 Verata Project• Full policy under the Sustainable Development Bill

(1997?)• Ad-hoc policies of Forestry (terrestrial) and Fisheries

(marine)• Interest of AG’s office• Availability from CBD Secretariat of Model

Provisions

USP Marine Collaborations

• 1980s UC Santa Cruz (Fiji)• 1990s Utah University (Fiji and Van.),

Strathclyde (Verata project)• 2000s Georgia Tech (Fiji), PharmaMar• 2010s Georgia Tech, CRRF (USNIH) (SI),• 2015 Nagoya Fund (SI)

Bioactivity Screens

1. Antimicrobial (fungi + bacteria – resistant strains)

2. Anti – cancer test• brine shrimp• cell lines• mechanism based

3. Others possible, e.g. malaria, dengue, Alzheimer, TB, anti-ageing

Potential role of CDDC in regional program

• Repository of collected specimens (Univ Utah, CRRF (NIH), GIT, JIB, GEF)

Both, for macrosamples and microbes

• Bioprospecting partner

• Annual reports to governments