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Introduction 



Pfizer is a research-based, diversified health-care company with its major 

 research facilities in Groton, Connecticut. Pfizer employs 44,000 people 

 worldwide and had sales of $7.23 billion in 1992. In September 1993, 

 Pfizer announced a three-year, $2 million research collaboration with The 

 New York Botanical Garden to study plant extracts as a possible source 

 of new medicines. This collaboration, and its role in the overall Pfizer 

 drug discovery effort, is the focus of our written testimony. In addition, 

 we present our views on the adequacy of the Endangered Species Act 

 to provide further conservation of plant species. 



Drug Discovery 



Biomedical researchers today have access to technologies unthought of 

 five years ago. The research tools of molecular biology have provided 

 us with an understanding of the underlying mechanisms of many 

 diseases at the molecular level, and this knowledge of disease 

 mechanisms is growing at an ever-increasing rate. It seems that each 

 week there is an announcement of a major breakthrough in our 

 understanding of some disease. Recent examples of such breakthroughs 

 include important insights into the molecular basis of Alzheimer's 

 disease. Cystic Fibrosis, and AIDS. This knowledge and the dazzling 

 array of research tools that molecular biology also has provided are 

 revolutionizing the discovery process of new therapeutic agents. 

 However, as our understanding of diseases increases and our 

 development of molecular tools for research programs continues, the 

 entire process remains limited by our ability to find molecules to 

 intervene at the desired targeted disease mechanism. 



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