Imagine a Jamaican being offered US$100 million for a patent, in relation to cancer research done on a local plant. Imagine further that this offer has been rejected because the earning potential for this breakthrough is estimated to be even greater than that which has been offered.
That’s not just a hypothetical scenario anymore. Dr. Lawrence Williams, research consultant with the Scientific Research Council, and a Jamaican partner living in the United States are the holders of that patent and they reportedly received that lucrative offer from a major drug company in the United States.
Dr. Williams has been conducting research for years on a compound from the Guinea Hen Weed (scientific name: Petiveria alliacea), which has reached the patent stage. He’s confident that the drug he is developing will be effective against a range of cancers. “It works on 12 kinds of cancers so far; two or three types of breast cancer, neuroblastoma, lung, melanoma, adenocarcinoma, prostate etc.”
Dr. Williams was speaking recently in an exclusive interview with RJR’s Earl Moxam.
From Jamaica Observer
