Derived from the venom of the fish-eating Conus magnus snail, which is found in the Philippines, Prialt would have been the poster child for the potential of Philippine flora and fauna to produce valuable medicines.
Instead, foreign researchers ended up being awarded the drug patent in 2004, building on the pioneering work of the University of Utah’s Dr. Baldomero Olivera, a distinguished graduate of the University of the Philippines.
Dr. Olivera is said to have been first driven into snail research by childhood memories of their venomous properties. His work in the field dates back to the 1960s. His name does not appear on the Prialt patent application.
“Prialt is the one that got away,” according to Ricardo R. Blancaflor, director-general of the Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines, who spoke to BusinessWorld over lunch last week as part of a broader effort to spread the word on the need for universities and corporations to protect their intellectual property.
Mr. Blancaflor, a lawyer who has held positions in various government departments, believes the Philippines is uniquely positioned to be a force in biotechnology by virtue of its biodiversity -- if only local researchers could put a little more effort in safeguarding their IP.
“The Philippines is one of the regional leaders when it comes to biotechnological research because of its innate pool of natural specimens,” he said -- an advantage that is wasted when foreign researchers claim first rights to drugs derived from Philippine discoveries.
The statistics on pharmaceutical and biotechnology patents (see chart) suggest a highly competitive ecosystem of researchers combing the oceans, forests and jungles of the world for new drugs -- a situation that demands a greater consciousness of IP rights than ever before for researchers in Philippine universities.
Perhaps Prialt might be the mistake the Philippines can afford to make, serving a purpose as a cautionary tale. While a useful drug, it is too specialized to be a blockbuster in the multi-billion dollar global market for pain treatment, posting US sales of $20 million in 2009. It’s a tidy enough sum for a small drug company and ought to produce decent royalties for a university research lab.
But the stakes could be much higher if the next discovery out of the Philippines isn’t so modest. -- Agbayani P. Pingol II and Virgil S. Villanueva
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