pharmaceutical Slovakia

... appetite-suppressant effect and patented it. The CSIR then granted a British company, Phytopharm, a license to market Hoodia. Phytopharm quickly teamed up with the pharmaceutical giant Pfizer to develop a drug, sales of which could reach billions of euros when it is launched in 2008. In 2002, however, in accordance with the Convention on Biodiversity, the San tribespeople's rights over Hoodia were officially recognized by the CSIR, allowing them to take a percentage of the profits and any spin-offs resulting from the marketing of Hoodia. Hoodia gordonii is a protected plant which can only be wi...