National Cancer Institute - NCI Division of Cancer Treatment and ...

M A J O R O N G O I N G I N I T I A T I V E S
Drug Discovery
International Cooperative
Biodiversity Groups
http://www.fic.nih.gov/programs/
research_grants/icbg/index.htm
Contact:
Bruce Butrum
301-496-1670, butrumb@mail.nih.gov
Natural products are a leading source of
therapeutics—anticancer agents included.
For instance, some 60 to 65 percent of all
anticancer drugs are derived from natural
products. Additionally, sales figures from
2003 show that for all drug sales of more
than $1 billion, purely synthetic therapies
comprise only 20 percent of the market.
The International Cooperative Biodiversity
Groups (ICBG) program addresses the
interdependent issues of drug discovery,
biodiversity conservation, and sustainable
economic growth. Funding awarded under
a program announcement (http://grants2.
nih.gov/grants/guide/rfa-files/RFA-TW-
04-004.html), which expired in February
2006, is supporting groups that are conducting
research on using nature’s diverse
resources for drug development, but this
research also is focused on maintaining
biodiversity and promoting economic
growth in countries that have potentially
natural-sourced drugs.
Since awards were first made in 1992,
ICBGs have conducted research in nine
countries in Latin America, Africa, Southeast
and Central Asia, and the Pacific
Islands. Some 5000 species of plants,
animals, and fungi have been collected to
examine biological activity in 19 different
therapeutic areas. Numerous publications
100 ■ P R O G R A M A C C O M P L I S H M E N T S 2 0 0 6
in chemistry, biodiversity policy, conservation,
and ethnobiology have emerged from
the funded investigators, and several novel
compounds have been discovered.
Funding for this program has been provided
by nine components of the National
Institutes of Health (NIH), the Biological
Sciences Directorate of the National
Science Foundation, and the Foreign
Agriculture Service and Forest Service
of the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
The cooperating NIH components are
the Fogarty International Center; NCI;
National Institute of Allergy and Infectious
Diseases; National Institute of Mental
Health; National Institute on Drug Abuse;
National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute;
National Center for Complementary and
Alternative Medicine; Office of Dietary
Supplements; and National Institute of
General Medical Sciences.
No new applications for this program
are being accepted at this time.
Rapid Access to NCI Discovery
Resources—for Academics
http://dtp.nci.nih.gov/docs/rand/
rand_index.html
Contact:
R·A·N·D
Office of the DTP Associate Director
301-496-8720, rand@dtpax2.ncifcrf.gov
The process of creating an effective, molecularly
targeted cancer drug begins with
basic research and the search for chemical
compounds with potential anticancer
properties and molecules within cancer
cells and their surroundings that might
provide targets for cancer interventions.