Education COM 4430- Weekly Assignment 9
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Multinational pharmaceutical firms commonly explore, extract, develop, and
distribute drugs from traditional medicinal plants. Please read “The Case of
Hoodia,” a fictional account of a real-life dilemma that involves multiple
stakeholders, including the San, the oldest continual human inhabitants of Africa,
a multinational pharmaceutical firm, the health concerns of obese people around
the world, a large pan-African government research organization, and a South
African non-governmental organization.
After completing the reading, answer questions 1 and 2.
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The Case of Hoodia
“So, what do you do?”
Angela Bingham turned to her seatmate and tried to muster a genuine smile. Although
she was proud of her work, Angela disliked being asked such a personal, invasive question by a
stranger. Nevertheless, she was stuck sitting next to this man for the remainder of her 11-hour
flight to Cape Town, so she decided to open up a little.
“I work for a company called Pharmedics. It’s a British pharmaceuticals concern that
specializes in developing drugs from traditional medicinal plants. The medicines we work on are
used to treat asthma, Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer’s disease, AIDS…you name it. My latest
project is development of an extract from a plant called Hoodia Gordonii. It grows in the wild all
over southern Africa and has been used by the San, or the Bushmen of the Kalahari, for
thousands of years. The San are the first human inhabitants of Africa. They take Hoodia to stave
off hunger and thirst on long hunting and gathering expeditions and during times of drought. The
extract, P57, may turn out to be an anti-obesity wonder drug.”
“Wow, that sounds interesting and like really good work. Are you a scientist?”
“No, I’m an account director. Actually, Pharmedics is a virtual company—there are very
few of us who are employed directly by the company itself. I work with outsourced field
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researchers, lab scientists, clinicians, and manufacturers. I’m a middleman; I develop a
communications strategy between the stakeholders and I coordinate feasibility studies for
research and production. Pharmedics works on initial isolation of extracts. We leave the
commercialization up to the big boys.”
“The ‘big boys’?”
“Yeah, Phizer, Unilever—big multinational pharmaceutical firms. They’ve got the money
and the power to push drugs through the Food and Drug Administration and such. But tell me,
what do you do, um...I can’t believe I already forgot your name…”
Angela’s seatmate smiled graciously. “Roger. Don’t worry about it—I’m an artist, a
sculptor, so I’m a little flighty myself. I’m bringing a commissioned work to Cape Town to be
placed in front of the headquarters of a big shipbuilding company. I work with metal. The pieces
of the sculpture are down in the baggage compartment. I’m going to South Africa to put them all
together.”
“Well, well,” beamed Angela, “that’s basically what I’m going to Cape Town to do, put
together pieces. But I’m no artist. This is more like a sales job, although I’m not quite sure what
I’m selling or to whom.”
Temporarily saved from having to explain further by the arrival of the dinner cart, Angela
leaned back in her seat and closed her eyes. She recalled the conversation she’d had the previous
week with her company’s president, David Campbell, when she was initially dispatched on this
mission.
“Angela, I just want you to know that you’ve done incredible work on the clinical trials
of P57. It has enormous commercial potential and Phizer is very interested in taking it to the next
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level. But Angela, nothing can happen at all until we work things out with the San. I’ve got their
lawyer, reporters from the Observer, a bunch of NGOs, and the governments of Namibia,
Botswana, and South Africa breathing down my neck…it’s unbelievable. I didn’t even know the
San existed anymore. I need you to go over there and make everybody happy.”
Angela’s heart pounded. She was used to bringing people together to work as a team, but
this sounded much more complicated than what she usually did. “David, I’m not sure I
understand what you want me to do. Why do we have a problem with the San? They don’t have
the development license on the patent for Hoodia, we do.”
Taking off his glasses, David Campbell stood and began pacing the room. “We purchased
the development rights for Hoodia from the initial patent holder, the South African-based
Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), one of the largest research organizations
in Africa. Although it was a government-sponsored institution, it did not consult with the San,
the original holders of the knowledge of Hoodia, before applying for the patent. Even if they had
approached them, the San may have had little trust for an apartheid-era institution. They may not
have even understood what was at stake for them. The San’s way of life has been undermined by
development in southern Africa. The San are poverty-stricken and they lack education and access
to information, so they have little power to negotiate or profit from developing their indigenous
knowledge…anyway, a South African NGO called BioWatch got wind of the CSIR agreement
with us and leaked it to the press.”
Angela was starting to catch on. “So do the San believe they are the true owners of
Hoodia? Do they want some sort of monetary compensation for their knowledge of Hoodia?”
“To tell you the truth, the San find the very idea that anyone should pay them for their
knowledge morally abhorrent. The San culture values knowledge as a collective resource.
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What’s more, the whole patent process makes little sense to them. They don’t see how life—
even plant life—can be ‘owned.’”
Sitting back down at his desk, Campbell went on to explain how matters were made even
more complicated by the fact that the San were not a single community, but a group of multiple
far-flung communities that lived and travelled throughout South Africa, Namibia, and Botswana.
An advocacy organization had been formed in 1996 to lobby for the interests of the San
communities, the Working Group of Indigenous Minorities in Southern Africa (WIMSA).
Through their lawyer, WIMSA had recently informed Pharmedics and the CSIR of their decision
not to pursue the San’s ‘no patents on life’ policy in court, as it was too expensive. Instead, the
San wanted to negotiate a benefits-sharing agreement, with Hoodia royalties being used to
alleviate poverty and sustain endangered aspects of San culture. The distribution of such benefits
was, however, potentially problematic. Even if an agreement could be reached between the
CSIR, Pharmedics, and WIMSA, how could a system be created to fairly compensate multiple
nomadic San groups across three countries?
Angela was overwhelmed but determined. “David, I can’t believe what a puzzle you’ve
placed in front of me. I’ll go to Cape Town. I can’t promise I’ll make everyone happy, but I’ll try
to help everyone recognize all the many moving parts and how they can best fit together.”
“Ma’am, would you like eggs or French toast?”
Angela’s attention snapped back into the present.
“Oh, uh, thank you. French toast, please.” She looked away from the steward and over
towards Roger. His dinner tray had been replaced with one featuring eggs and toast, and the sun
was shining brightly through the window.
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“Well good morning, sleepyhead, just in time for breakfast! You passed out without even
taking a bite of dinner. I didn’t want to wake you—I hope that’s o.k. We’ve only got a few more
hours before landing.”
“Oh yes, of course. Roger, can I ask you something? You said you are going to Cape
Town to put the pieces of your metal sculpture together. How exactly are you going to do that?”
“Well, you choose your method depending on the types of metals you are working with.
If the metals are the same, you can weld them together. It takes a lot of heat and it’s dangerous,
but if you are careful the joining will last a long time. If the metals are different, it’s very
difficult to force them together with welding. You generally have to use some sort of fastener
like bolts or rivets. You pick the process to match the parts.”
“Thank you, Roger. I’m starting to think I should conceive of my task in Cape Town
more in terms of sculpting than selling. You’ve helped me a lot.”
Angela leaned back in her seat. She was grateful Roger had asked her what she did for a
living; moreover, she was glad she’d chosen to open up to him. She smiled to herself, and this
time it was genuine.
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