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Hoodia PatentingOnce upon a time, the story goes, the San Bushmen ate the hoodia plant in order to curb hunger and survive hunting trips. Then, in the 1930s, an anthropologist from Denmark observed their use of the plant. It took another three decades for scientists at the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) of South Africa to begin studying it in-depth. They examined hoodia until they isolated P-57, an ingredient thought to shut down the body's hunger mechanism. Receiving a patent for that discovery in the 1990s, they teamed up with British company Phytopharm and gave them licensed rights to further study and research P-57. Phytopharm, in turn, sub-licensed their rights to Pfizer, a pharmaceutical juggernaut better known for producing Viagra. Pfizer eventually returned the rights to Phytopharm, which is currently collaborating with Unilever on research studies. The patenting rights essentially mean that no one else can make or sell products with P-57. The glitch here is the natural presence of P-57 in hoodia. Therefore, the patent rights refer more to manufacturing of the P-57 molecule itself, and potency enhancement in hoodia products. So what became of the tribesmen initial discovery? Their contributions to the discovery of hoodia were recognized in 2002. They now, as a result, earn a profit percentage from hoodia marketing.
Tips to Buy Hoodia | History | Side Effects | Science | Patenting Return from Hoodia Patenting to Hoodia Gordonii
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