The role of natural products in modern drug discovery.

The global medicine market is about 1.1 trillion US dollars. About 35 percent of medicines have originated from natural products. Brazil presents the largest biodiversity in the world, with more than 50,000 species of higher plants. However, few innovative products have been developed in Brazil from active constituents derived from the Brazilian biodiversity. Scientific evidences on plants and venoms have been internationally published by Brazilian scientists over the last 4 decades; but few examples of innovative products are commercially available. Few examples include the anti-hypertensive drug captopril first identified in the venom of the Brazilian viper Bothrops jararaca by Professor Sergio Ferreira; and…