Biodiversity and bioprospecting

Novartis has a history of natural products research that can be traced back over 90 years. We believe that natural products have significant potential as a source for new drugs and as tools for pathway screening and target identification.

Our efforts at using natural sources for obtaining potential drugs or lead substances are conducted in accordance with the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) and local regulations.

We support the objectives of the CBD and recognize the national sovereignty of states over biological resources.

We further support and wish to participate in the development of a regime on Access and Benefit Sharing. This would facilitate the access to and sustainable use of genetic resources and, once clearly defined, associated traditional knowledge. It would also regulate the rights and responsibilities of users and providers of such resources in a transparent way, taking into account related discussions and outcomes from relevant international fora while ensuring compliance with intellectual property law.

Additionally, we share know-how and the latest technologies with our local collaboration partners and help them build capacity.

Learn more about the Convention on Biological Diversity

 

Scaling up agricultural capacity

Coartem, our leading antimalarial treatment, is a prime example of natural product drug development and international cooperation. It was developed in collaboration with the Chinese government. After scaling up production in Switzerland, Novartis transferred the knowledge of scale-up procedures back to China, where the facilities of the Kunming Pharmaceutical Corporation were upgraded to international good manufacturing practices, essential for the production of the drug for the worldwide market.

Production of Coartem requires a 14-month lead-time that includes planting, harvesting, extraction of artemisinin (the precursor molecule to one of Coartem's active ingredients), tabletting, packaging and, finally, shipment of the product. The active ingredients are produced by the Chinese companies KPC and ZMC in new chemical production facilities and by Novartis Switzerland - the finished product is produced by Novartis in China and the United States.

Though the Chinese remain central to the supply of artemisinin, Novartis has also formed a partnership with East African Botanicals to dramatically increase agricultural cultivation of Artemisia annua in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda and extraction of artemisinin.

 

Investing in local capability

The Novartis Institutes for BioMedical Research (NIBR) are interested in natural products, especially fungi and bacteria that can be collected without depleting natural sources, and that can be cultivated in large-scale fermentors.

When collecting in foreign countries, NIBR uses formal agreements that adhere to the Convention on Biological Diversity. Principles established by the Convention include compensating developing nations for use of their biological resources.

There are often royalty provisions in the event that a natural product leads to a successful drug. However, NIBR also compensates the countries in which it collects in a more immediate fashion, through technology transfer, scientific training sessions at NIBR facilities, and lectures to students of the partner institutes and universities.

For example, NIBR has furnished partners in Mexico, Panama, Thailand and China with new equipment for collection and isolation of microorganisms, innovative methodologies in microbiology and analytical chemistry, and has invited numerous scientists from developing countries to spend time in NIBR laboratories in Switzerland.

By donating laboratory equipment and providing scientific education, NIBR invests in local research capabilities.

Visit the Novartis Institutes for BioMedical Research website

Read our position on Biodiversity/Bioprospecting
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