Ensuring Equitable Benefits: The Falealupo Covenant and the Isolation of Anti-Viral Drug Prostratin from a Samoan Medicinal Plant

Abstract

Equitable sharing of benefits from pharmacological development of biodiversity has been the topic of much discussion, but few concrete examples of recent plant-derived pharmaceuticals exist. The discovery of prostratin as an anti-viral phorbol isolated from healer preparations of the rain forest tree Homalanthus nutans in Samoa illustrates the importance of careful liaison between western scientists and indigenous leaders. Development of prostratin as an anti-AIDS drug candidate was based on a carefully negotiated covenant between the chiefs and orators of Falealupo village and western researchers, with the concurrence of the Samoan Prime Minister and members of parliament. Since, like all drug candidates, potential commercial development of prostratin still remains uncertain, the case of prostratin indicates the importance of providing benefits to indigenous peoples in advance of royalty or license income. To date, over US$ 480,000 have been supplied to Falealupo village for schools, medical clinics, water supplies, trails, an aerial rain forest canopy walkway, and an endowment for the rain forest based on the Falealupo Covenant. And, in August 2001 the AIDS Research Alliance (ARA) signed an agreement with the Prime Minister of Samoa guaranteeing a total of 20% of all ARA profits from the development of prostratin to be returned to Samoa.

Keywords::

• prostratin
• ethnobotany
• equitable benefits
• Falealupo covenant
• Samoa