Transnationals with a Conscience
(Page 2 of 2)
March/April 1996
By Thomas J. Carlson, Steven R. King, Interciencia (www2.scienceupdate.com/)
Shaman's approach to questions surrounding reciprocal benefits involves three time frames--immediate, medium term, and long term. We developed this approach in part to address a potential conflict between our company's recognized obligations to local communities and the nature of the pharmaceutical industry. Although the needs of indigenous peoples are often urgent, development of a therapeutic agent generally requires a long lead time, which can easily be five to ten years. Shaman considers it unacceptable to delay compensation for indigenous people until a product to which they have contributed is ready for market. We also believe that our collaborators are entitled to a percentage of the profits from sales after the product is on the market, and to some return even if the product never achieves commercial potential.
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Immediate reciprocal exchange to local people is as likely to be in the form of supplies and services as in direct funds. This component is especially important because research we conduct in any given location may never lead to a commercial product. Without our commitment to immediate return of some kind, our colleagues would derive no benefits from their knowledge and assistance.
Medium-term activities are projects that come to fruition over several months to several years, even though they may have long-lasting impacts in local communities. The creation of sustainable natural-product supply industries is another category of medium-term activity. In many countries throughout the tropics, both governments and local people consider new sustainable industries to be a vital part of economic development.
Long-term benefits are enjoyed when our products reach the market. For every product, Shaman has committed to return a portion of the profits to all of the communities and countries in which we have worked, no matter where in the world the plant or information we developed into a product originated. When Shaman was formed, we founded a nonprofit conservation organization, the Healing Forest Conservancy, to create and implement a compensation process to return benefits to indigenous colleagues after a product has reached the commercial state.
Steven R. King is vice president for ethnobotany and conservation at Shaman Pharmaceuticals Inc., and Thomas J. Carlson is Shaman's senior director of ethnobiomedical field research.
Reprinted from Interciencia, May/June 1995.
See Interciencia Association at http://www2.scienceupdate.com
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