Phytopharmaceuticals Inc. (PPI), a subsidiary of EscageneticsCorp. (ASE:ESN), has engaged Panlabs Inc. to screen thousandsof plant extracts for discovery of lead drug compounds.

The agreement, announced last week, has a minimum two-yearterm.

PPI of San Carlos, Calif., said both companies will isolate novelmolecules displaying targeted biological activity. PPI willdevelop and retain all rights to commercial applications fromdiscoveries made through the agreement, and Panlabs willreceive an equity interest in PPI.

PPI, which has an in-house screening program, obtains plantextracts and compounds through its plant collection and plantextract production laboratories in China, Brazil and Thailand.

Last month, Pfizer Inc. signed a similar collaborative researchagreement with the New York Botanical Garden (NYBG). Underthat $2 million, three-year agreement, the NYBG will collect andidentify plant samples from numerous sites within the U.S.Pfizer will test extracts from the plants as potential sources ofnew drugs. Pfizer will pay a royalty to NYBG if a compound iscommercialized from the research.

According to Brian Boom, vice president for botanical sciencesat NYBG, one-quarter of all prescription drugs used in the U.S.originated in plant life. He said fewer than 1 percent of the250,000 species of flowering plants worldwide have beenthoroughly analyzed for their potential as human therapies.-- Brenda Sandburg

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