Natural Products and Medicinal Plants Research

Marine Natural Products Drug Discovery

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Drug discovery represents one of the most promising and highly visible outcomes of marine biotechnology research. Biochemicals produced by marine invertebrates, algae and bacteria, are very different than those from related terrestrial organisms and thus offer great potential as new classes of medicines. To date, examples of marine-derived drugs include antibiotics from fungi, two closely related compounds from a sponge that treat cancer and the herpes virus, and a neurotoxin from a snail that has painkiller properties making it 10,000 times more potent than morphine without the side effects. However, there are several more marine-derived compounds currently in clinical trials and it is likely that many more will advance to the clinic as more scientists look to the sea for these biotechnological uses. In addition to new medicines, other uses for marine-derived compounds include: cosmetics (algae, crustacean and sea fan compounds), nutritional supplements (algae and fish compounds), artificial bone (corals), and industrial applications (fluorescent compounds from jellyfish, novel glues from mussels, and heat resistant enzymes from deep-sea bacteria).

Primary research and market analysis shows sponges and marine animals to be the largest source of pharmaceutical products. In terms of geography, North America is expected to be the largest market for marine based pharmaceuticals. The history of marine-derived products began from cod-liver oil, shark oil, and calcium supplements. Marine biotechnology has developed over the years propelled by the unmet needs for new and innovative pharmaceutical products. Potential pipeline drugs being developed are anti-viral, anti-cancer drugs from byrozoans, anti-microbial, and anti-inflammatory.