Traditional Knowledge is key to pharmaceutical development

The use of traditional knowledge in the initial stages of biopharmaceutical research reduces the time and cost of developing products.15 This practice is called “ethnopharmacology” or “ethnomedicine,” and more companies have adopted this approach because of the increase in efficiency.16 A 2004 study analyzing the role 9. Samuel Lim, An Equitable Approach to Traditional Knowledge Protection, 53 N.Y.U. J. INT’L L. & POL. 135, 141 (2020); Intellectual Property and Bioprospecting, supra note 5, at 260. 10. Intellectual Property and Bioprospecting, supra note 5, at 260. 11. Id. 12. Id. 13. Id. 14. See id. at 259, 274. 15. Aman Gebru, Patents, Disclosure, and Biopiracy, 96 DENV. L. REV. 535, 550 (2019) [hereinafter Patents, Disclosure, and Biopiracy]. 16. Id. at 549-50. of traditional knowledge in modern medicine found that the use of traditional knowledge increased the probability of getting a “preliminary hit” from 6% without relying on traditional knowledge, to 25% with use of traditional knowledge.17 Another study found that 80% of plant-derived compounds tested were used for the same ethnomedical purposes as the developed drug.18 The usefulness of traditional knowledge in the initial stages of drug development has been repeatedly proven.19 “The trial and error from the centuries-old use of biodiversity resources by communities has been serving as a diverse pool upon which biopharmaceutical firms build to develop modern drugs.”20 Evidence of this success can be found in the attempt to find a cure for acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS).21 In search for a cure, a New York researcher conducted a field study in the Belize rainforest.22 He compared a random collection of plant species with plants used by the local community for medicinal purposes.23 Out of twenty plants gathered based on the local people’s knowledge, five of them killed the AIDS virus.24 Out of eighteen plants collected randomly, only one killed the AIDS virus.25 Although the plant itself requires more development for it to be used as a drug, the knowledge provided by the local community facilitates the research that leads to the innovation. 26