28 



sponge found in the western pacific ocean. The procurement of materials for future 

 development is underway. 



NATIONAL COOPERATIVE DRUG DISCOVERY GROUPS 



In addition to the direct NCI drug discovery and development efforts described above, the 

 NCI established a number of National Cooperative Drug Discovery Groups in the mid-1980s, 

 funded through competitively awarded cooperative agreements. The purpose of these groups 

 is to carry out investigator-initiated research on the discovery of new anticancer agents 

 utilizing approaches of their own design. In many cases, these groups include industry 

 partners in order to move new agents rapidly to clinical trials and the market. Several of 

 these groups are devoted to the exploration of natural products and thus represent another 

 important approach to the development of agents from this invaluable source. In fact, one of 

 the drugs mentioned earlier, topotecan, arose from that program. 



ISSUES OF INTERNATIONAL COLLABORATION AND COMPENSATION 



The current NCI collections are being carried out in over 25 countries situated mainly in 

 tropical and subtropical regions. Recognition of the value of the natural resources (plant, 

 marine and microbial) being investigated by the NCI, and the significant contributions being 

 made by the source country's local scientists and traditional healers in aiding the performance 

 of the NCI collection programs, has led the NCI to formulate policies aimed at collaboration 

 with, and compensation of, countries participating in the NCI drug discovery program. The 

 Letter of Collection (LOC) (formerly known as the Letter of Intent) formulated by the NCI 

 contains both short-term and long-term measures aimed at assuring source countries of NCI's 

 intentions to deal with them in a fair and equitable manner. The LOC forms the basis for 

 agreements between the NCI and source countries, usually represented by organizations such 

 as botanical institutions, pharmaceutical research institutes, universities, or appropriate 

 government agencies. The NCI has signed agreements (based on the LOC) with 

 organizations in eight countries (Awa Federation in Ecuador, Cameroon, Gabon, Ghana, 

 Madagascar, Philippines, Tanzania, and Zimbabwe), and agreements with a number of 

 additional country organizations are being considered or negotiated. 



In the short-term, NCI periodically invites scientists from source country organizations to 

 visit the drug discovery facilities at the FCRDC to discuss the goals of the program and 

 explore the scope for collaboration in the drug discovery effort. These visits invariably result 

 in a better mutual understanding of the goals and concerns of each party, and expedite the 

 initiation of collection programs. When laboratory space and resources permit, qualified 

 scientists from source country organizations are invited to spend up to 12 months working 

 with scientists in NCI facilities on the bioassay-guided isolation and structure determination of 

 active agents, preferably from organisms collected in their countries. Scientists from nine 

 countries (Australia, Cameroon, China, Israel, Korea, New Zealand, Philippines, Tanzania, 

 and Zimbabwe) have carried out, or are presently undertaking, collaborative research projects 

 with scientists in NCI facilities. 



