Bought SHMN, seems to be something going on with it. Also had some news yesterday but they forgot to give their ticker;
QUITO, (Nov. 16) IPS - The latex of the croton lechleri tree
species, for centuries considered a "miracle" medicinal substance
by indigenous groups in the Amazon basin, is now being exploited
by international pharmaceutical companies, sparking a debate over
rights to the substance.
Until a few years ago, the red latex extracted from the croton
tree, known in Spanish as "sangre de drago," was utilized primarily
by indigenous people and sold in health food stores in Peru and
Ecuador, where it is most commonly used to treat coughs, colds,
lung ailments, diarrhea, stomach ulcers, cuts, herpes infections,
and open sores in the mouth.
A survey conducted among people who extract croton latex in the
Amazon region of Alto Napo in Ecuador found that 29 percent of
respondents said they sold the latex to anyone interested in buying
it locally, 53 percent sold it commercially, and 18 percent did
both.
Only in the past few years has the latex been sold commercially on
the international market for botanicals, but a quick search on the
Internet will come up with several foreign companies that sell the
product.
In 1989, Lisa Conte founded the company Shaman Pharmaceuticals Inc.
in California, on the premise that the development and use of
traditional indigenous knowledge of medicinal plants could
contribute to the discovery of new healing compounds.
Based on the knowledge of peoples of the Amazon basin and research
by the company's scientists, Shaman came up with two medicines made
from croton latex: Provir, an oral medicine against a respiratory
virus; and Virend, for use in treating herpes. These products,
however, were not perfected and never reached the market.
According to company spokespersons, Shaman was conducting research
on Croton latex long before it first visited Ecuador.
"Shaman's patent on SP-303, a complex non-synthesizeable molecular
structure extracted from the latex of sangre de drago, was first
filed in 1990, prior to Shaman's first expedition to Ecuador," they
said.
"The research Shaman conducted in Ecuador on sangre de drago was
in order to obtain further ethnobotanic verification of the
medicinal properties it had already understood," they stated.
The firm also manufactures a dietary supplement, SB-Normal Stool
Formula, a standardized extract from croton latex.
This product "contains the patented principal ingredient, SP-
303...which prevents fluid loss and promotes normal stool formation
without causing constipation" like other drugs "that paralyze bowel
motility," they added.
Each 350-milligram tablet contains 250 milligrams of SP-303 and
close to 100 milligrams of an anti-oxidant commonly found in fruits
and vegetables.
Besides SP-303, three other components of croton latex have been
patented by other companies in the United States, although the
plant that produces the latex has not been patented.
"No patent prohibits the traditional use of the latex nor the sale
of the cortex, extracts or tablets in any country," Shaman
representatives pointed out.
One concern of environmentalists is that the harvesting of large
volumes of croton latex for commercial ends will put the species
in jeopardy.
Shaman spokespersons pointed out that in terms of sustainability,
indigenous knowledge and rights to natural resources, it was
important to take into account the growth of the international
market of botanicals.
There are two methods for harvesting the latex: felling the tree
to extract the latex, or continual tapping, as is done with rubber.
"To harvest large volumes of sangre de drago for commercial
purposes, the tree needs to be felled, which is also the most
common traditional method of extraction for market supply,
practiced in Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru.
"Our studies conclude that the tapping method of latex harvest is
less sustainable than the traditional felling method for large-
scale production," said the company representatives.
According to a independent survey in the Alto Napo province, 66
percent of people who extracted Croton latex felled the trees, 28
percent tapped the tree trunks, and six percent used both methods.
Croton trees "do not regenerate to allow continual tapping and
latex production. For these reasons, the felling method...was
chosen instead of the tapping method," the spokespersons stated,
adding that "the company has directly financed the reforestation
of approximately 300,000 Croton trees."
Shaman is working to sign a contract for access to genetic
resources with Ecuador's Ministry of the Environment. The contract
would be the first of its kind between a private company and the
Ecuadorean state.
While Shaman representatives said the firm was apparently the first
to apply for such a permit, they added that an "interesting" aspect
was that the company did "not want to conduct research to access
genetic information from Ecuador's natural resources.
"Shaman is only interested in obtaining a permit to buy latex of
sangre de drago from communities and small enterprises that would
like to sell it as a non-timber forest resource, essentially, as
a commodity," the spokespersons stressed.
They complained, however, that they had not received the same
treatment as other firms at the hands of the Ecuadorean government.
But although the information used by Shaman in isolating a chemical
compound from Croton latex "didn't come from Ecuador originally,
the Ecuadorean government has chosen to interpret the Cartagena
Agreement in its most strict way, which considers that any use of
a natural product or its byproducts is a matter of accessing
genetic information.
"What is peculiar about this whole process is that if this is the
criteria, as has been indicated by the Ministry of Environment,
how come other companies that are currently buying medicinal plants
and other natural products from Ecuador are not required to do the
same?" company spokespersons asked.
Shaman is currently waiting for Ecuador to finalize legislation on
access to genetic resources, which according to the Ministry of
the Environment will be ready by year's end. The legislation is to
regulate the terms of the Cartagena Agreement.
"At that point, the Ministry will conclude its evaluation of
Shaman's proposal to buy latex of sangre de drago from Ecuador,
which has been in progress for several years," the company
spokespersons added.
In the past, the Ministry of Agriculture and the National Institute
on Forestry and Wild and Natural Areas (INEFAN) granted Shaman
permits to export croton latex. But the company representatives
pointed out that Shaman had not purchased any plant material from
Ecuador since 1994.
The spokespersons said the firm contributed 15 to 20 percent of
the cost of its ethnobotanical expeditions to covering the needs
of participating communities, while it provided both financial and
technical assistance to centers for traditional medicine and for
research activities.
And an as yet undetermined percentage of the proceeds are to go to
the indigenous groups and countries with which the company has
worked.
According to a report published by the Quito daily El Comercio, 13
Andean medicinal plants -- including sangre de drago -- are facing
the risk of disappearing, which highlights the need for effective
legal protection for the conservation of native species.
*** end of story ***
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