Govt ‘to patent sargassum microbe discoveries, potential commercial gains in Bajan hands’

B arbados is to secure patent protection for three microorganisms discovered in sargassum seaweed after pharmaceutical companies expressed interest in acquiring them, the University of the West Indies scientist behind the discovery has said, with the government seeking to retain the discoveries’ potential commercial and environmental value. Professor Bidyut Mohapatra said the Mia Mottley administration would seek to obtain patents for the discoveries rather than allow multinational corporations to buy the organisms outright. He said the aim was to retain in Barbados the potential commercial, environmental and financial benefits arising from the research. After presenting his research at an American Society for Microbiology conference in Washington, DC, he was approached by major pharmaceutical firms interested in acquiring the microbes, said Professor Mohapatra.

Professor Mohapatra shows a microorganism (actinomycetes) commonly found in soil in his lab at the Department of Biololgical and Chemical Sciences at UWI Cave Hill. It is the same lab where he discovered the three novel microbes. (Photo Credit: Ricardo Roberts) He told Barbados TODAY : “Three companies were interested in procuring the microorganisms from us, purchasing them and starting industries. “One is a very big multinational pharmaceutical industry. But my interest is to keep this particular intellectual property in Barbados. The prime minister showed strong interest, and we met with the attorney general to decide how to go for the patent so maximum commercialisation stays in Barbados rather than giving it to a multinational company. ” Selling the rights immediately to foreign corporations, he said, would provide a short-term payout while depriving the country of longer-term assets. “If we sold it, the…