ICBG Project: Funded by the National Institutes of Health in cooperation with the Fogary International Center and NSF

International Cooperative Biodiversity Groups: Drug Discovery & Biodiversity Conservation in Madagascar - Planning Grant October 2003-September 2005

Progress Report, early March 2004

Specific Aim 1- to hold a workshop in Madagascar that will introduce the ICBG to local residents and officials and allow the exchange information about goals and expectations for the project.

Dec 15-18 2003, a Workshop on this project was held at the Centre ValBio in Ranomafana, Madagascar. The workshop was attended by project participants: Dr. Iwao Ojima (Stony Brook University), Dr. Patricia Wright (Stony Brook University), Dr. Bakolinirina Andiramihaja (University of Antananarivo), Dr. Kathy Parker (Stony Brook University), Dr. Frank Almeda (California Academy of Sciences), Dr. Pascal Ratalata (University of Fianarantsoa), Dr. Philippe Rasoanaivo (Institut Malgache de Recherches Appliquees - IMRA), Dr. Jean-Philippe Puyravaud (Centre ValBio), Mr. Pascal Rabeson (Field Coordinator Madagascar ICBG project), representatives of the Malagasy government, Ampanjaka (Traditional Leaders) from the Ranomafana area, Park Managers. This workshop formally introduced the project to local residents, park officials, and local officials and enlisted their comments and suggestions, and answered their questions. This workshop also included site visits to laboratories at the University of Fianarantsoa, University of Antananarivo, and IMRA .

Iwao Ojima, Patrica Wright, Kathlyn Parker, Frank Almeda, and leaders of FIMARA and Ampanjaka meeting at the Centre ValBio, Dec 2003.

Specific Aim 2 - to pursue a small number of ethnobotanical and zoological leads, thereby setting up the arrangements and procedures that will serve as the foundation of the drug discovery project. Arrangements include those pertaining to intellectual property and benefit sharing. Procedures include data collection and organization, specimen distribution, and training.

At the Dec. Workshop in Madagascar, project participants met to continue the design and development of plant survey methods, materials flow issues, chemical extraction and analysis methodologies, relations with local villagers and institutions and the development of contracts. In addition, Dr. Fredrica van Berkum and Dr. John C. Petersen (both from Stony Brook University) attended an NIH/Fogarty ICBG workshop in Bethesda MD (Dec 16-17) on Developing Research Access and Benefit-Sharing Agreements. On the recommendation of the NIH/Fogarty staff, Our ICBG project has been working closely with PIIPA (Public Interest Intellectual Property Advisors, Inc.) to develop fair and equitable contracts with all partners. At this time, we are in the process of drafting the contracts, and plan to bring them to Madagascar at the end of March 2004 for signing. PIIPA has located an attorney to assist the attorney representing the local villagers with IP issues.

Specific Aim 3 - to expand the scope of systematic surveys of plants, insects, and spiders by the California Academy of Sciences in southeast Madagascar and to establish a bioprospecting protocol for this region that will complement the established traditional ethnobotanical approach to drug discovery.

Dr. Frank Almeda of the California Academy of Sciences visited Ranomafana for the workshop in December 2003 and is working closely with Pascal Rabeson (Field Coordinator) and Dr. Jean-Philippe Puyravaud (Associate Project Member) to develop plant survey and collecting protocol. They have installed a plant dryer and plant racks at the Centre ValBio. No plant collecting will begin until contracts are signed and approved.

Specific Aim 4 - to discover opportunities for micro-enterprises related to the improvement of health or environmental preservation and to enhance the local scientific infrastructure so that it can serve responsible business development.

Dr. Patricia Wright and Pascal Rabeson have held several meetings with local village leaders to solicit their input. Local villagers have requested support for establishing plant nurseries where medicinal plants can be grown for market and for toursim. In addition, Dr. Iwao Ojima has arranged with Dr. Philippe Rasoanaivo (IMRA, Institut Malgache de Recherches Appliquees) to work with the local villagers to develop packaging and marketing strategies based on systems already in place at IMRA. Pascal Rabeson (Field Coordinator) is organizing monthly meetings with village leaders to continue this dialog and establish micro-enterprises once the contracts have been signed an approved. Funding has been provided to Dr. Bakoli Andriamihaja to convert an empty room into a chemistry lab capable of doing the extractions for this project. This project is nearly complete, and the lab now is equipped with organic chemistry laboratory benches for three researchers, two hoods, a rotary evaporator, stirring divice, glassware, desscicator, balance, etc., solvents, chemicals, and two faculty offices.

Specific Aim 5 - to develop georeferenced biosurvey and systematic databases for the Centre ValBio, and plan biodiversity conservation activities related to biosurvey and database development.

Trained Malagasy parataxonomists are ground-truthing satellite data for a vegetation map. This work is being carried out in collaboration with a project funded by the David and Lucille Packard Foundation awarded to Dr. Patricia Wright. The vegetation map and associated plant systematics databases will be housed at the Centre ValBio and available to the ICBG project.

Significance and Plans: The work so far on this planning grant has been to establish the necessary groundwork for drug discovery in Southeastern Madagascar. Most of this preliminary phase will be completed by the end of March when contracts are signed and plant collection and discussion with traditional healers can commence. We have hired and trained staff so that teams are in place to collect plant samples and distribute them to the chemists as soon as the contracts are approved. At this point we can test the materials transfer and chemical analysis systems that we have been putting into place during the past year.