From Biodiversity to Intellectual Property on Drugs.

Summary For decades, there has been commercial exploitation of biodiversity in the form of medicines. These medicines are produced either by directly using the plant or elements of this plant (leaves, roots, etc.), or by synthesizing the active principle. In this context, countries have felt the need to regulate this exploitation so that the wealth does not only benefit the large pharmaceutical laboratories and so that it also benefits the countries from which the resource comes (or the local populations who have identified the healing power of the resource).