Anti-Malaria Consortium Dr Maureen Wolfson

South Africa has a rich tradition of medicinal plant use South Africa has a rich tradition of medicinal plant use 70%+ of the population consult approx Traditional Healers 70%+ of the population consult approx Traditional Healers 400 million usage events / year 400 million usage events / year (N Crouch) (N Crouch) Indigenous Knowledge on Plant Use

Plants: Why Drugs from? Natural products - historically useful leads Extensive ethnomedicinal plant use and knowledge in SA SAs rich floral diversity: 10% of earths vascular plants on 0.2% of its surface Between taxa 80% endemic - 13 families and 560 genera The worlds richest botanical hotspot: The Cape Floristic Region (Fynbos), with endemic taxa (N Crouch)

Ethnomedicinal Approach Helps to Narrow the Search (N Crouch) plant taxa in southern Africa 7000 recorded ethnomedicinal plants 600 associated with malaria or fever [210 taxa selected for antimalarial screening]

Plant Selection Procedure Ethnomedicinal Chemosystematic Other Develop novel drugs from PLANTS Note: Data sourced by literature searching (N Crouch)

Product Development Pipeline Act 10 requires Access and Benefit Sharing (ABS) agreements with communities and genetic resource holders, as well as permits at this stage Basic Research Development Validation of efficacy and safety Upscaling of product and initial agro- processing Manufacturing Proof of principleProof of concept Technology transfer PlantProduct

Consortium Partners Medical Research Council Medical Research Council University of Cape Town University of Cape Town Council for Scientific and Industrial Research Council for Scientific and Industrial Research SANBI SANBI University of Western Cape University of Western Cape University of Pretoria University of Pretoria

Genetic Resource used Aim to develop new medicines based on indigenous plants and indigenous knowledge for the treatment of malaria. Aim to develop new medicines based on indigenous plants and indigenous knowledge for the treatment of malaria. Agreements: Agreements: Consortium Benefit sharing Agreement Consortium Benefit sharing Agreement Trust Fund Agreement Trust Fund Agreement

Agreed benefits Multidisciplinary scientific activity Multidisciplinary scientific activity Capacity building Capacity building Technology transfer Technology transfer Development of affordable Development of affordable anti-malaria drugs Cultivation and agroprocessing Cultivation and agroprocessing Develop a technology platform for SA Develop a technology platform for SA with the elements of the value chain for drug discovery.

Benefit-sharing Any financial benefits through royalties divided in two with 50% benefits being divided equally by consortium partners and 50% to be deposited in a Trust Fund to be shared with stakeholders who provided resources or knowledge. Any financial benefits through royalties divided in two with 50% benefits being divided equally by consortium partners and 50% to be deposited in a Trust Fund to be shared with stakeholders who provided resources or knowledge.

Benefits realised to date Couple of promising leads being investigated further Couple of promising leads being investigated further Extensive database on medicinal plants Extensive database on medicinal plants The consortium approach has promoted multidisciplinary research, information, technology transfer, capacity building and innovation The consortium approach has promoted multidisciplinary research, information, technology transfer, capacity building and innovation