A vast reservoir of potential drugs is rapidly disappearing with destruction of rainforests.

Approximately 7,000 medical compounds currently prescribed by Western doctors are derived from plants, many of which were sourced from tropical rainforests. Additionally, 70% of the 3000 plants identified by the United States National Cancer Institute as having potential anti-cancer properties are endemic to the rainforest. It has been suggested that fewer than 1% of the world’s tropical rainforest plants have been tested for pharmaceutical activity.

EcoBiotics Limited is a company based in far North Queensland that specialises in the discovery of new drugs and agrochemicals from tropical rainforests (biodiscovery). At EcoBiotics they use a unique approach to biodiscovery that is based on an understanding of the ecology of the tropical rainforest. As this approach is highly targeted, collection strategies used by the company result in negligible impact on the natural environment.

EcoBiotics has an agreement with the ARF which allows the company access to ARF governed rainforests for biodiscovery purposes in return for royalty payments from sale of any products developed from collected material. Visit EcoBiotics