Samoa: Anti-HIV/AIDS Compound: Mamala/Prostratin
Traditional healers in the Falealupo village of Samoa have for centuries used a tea made by steeping ground-up stems from the mamala tree to treat yellow fever virus and hepatitis. The Samoan healers introduced Western research scientists to the plant's healing capacity. National Institutes of Health (NIH) and AIDs Research Alliance (ARA) used the plant to isolate a compound called prostratin, which is thought to have a high potential as an HIV retroviral.
NIH and ARA recognized that the traditional knowledge of Falealupo villagers was invaluable to their research. In 2001, they drafted an agreement, which stipulated that the Samoan government and the Falealupo village will receive royalties from any potential commercial use of their research.
In 2004, University of California at Berkeley and the Samoan government signed an agreement allowing University’s researchers to use the mamala tree to isolate the gene sequence of Prostratin for developing an anti-AIDS drug. The University will share any royalties from sale of a gene-derived drug with the people of Samoa.
