Importance of biodiversity to the modern pharmaceutical industry

Abstract

Natural substances have long served as sources of therapeutic drugs. Many substances have been derived from traditional medicine, e.g. digitalis (from Foxglove), ergotamine (from contaminated rye), quinine (from Cinchona), etc. More recently, many antibiotic, antifungal and anticancer agents have been derived from bacteria, fungi, plant and animal sources. While newer techniques of combinatorial chemistry and large scale screening of synthetic products as well as de novo design are now a mainstay for new drug discovery, the search for new natural products continues as an importance source of structural diversity. Genomic research continues to identify molecular targets for disease which can derive specific screening assays. All major drug companies screen plant, bacterial and fungal extracts, as well as synthetics. However, rarely, is a screening active discovered ideally suited for marketing as a drug due to suboptimal bioavailability, half-life, toxicity, specificity, etc. More often, natural products provide lead structures which are starting points for chemical modification to derive an optimal drug. Many new companies have been set up in the last few years to exploit natural products. As well, new techniques of combinatorial biosynthesis and gene transfer offer possibilities for identification of novel substances heretofore unaccessible for testing. It is critical that biomass diversity be maintained to provide future structural diversity and provide leads and drugs for pharmaceutical targets that will emerge in the coming years. © 1999 IUPAC.