ABSTRACT
Introduction: Natural products from plants, animals, microbes, and minerals have long been a traditional source for the treatment of human diseases. In the past decades, research on natural products for the pharmaceutical industry had declined due to numerous challenges. However, the recent developments in analytical technology, spectroscopy, and high-throughput screening have tremendously revived natural product drug discovery, including contribution from marine-based drugs. The marine environment is a unique resource enclosing a massive biological diversity, which if genuinely explored might potentially lead to breakthrough therapies. A growing number of compounds from marine sources are entering clinical trials and thus, the impact of this field on the pharmaceutical industry is increasing.
Areas covered: This review summarizes the progress in the field of marine natural products as therapeutic agents based on an analysis of the patents published in the period January 2015 through June 2018.
Expert opinion: Marine organisms are excellent producers of natural chemicals with diverse structures and pharmacological activities. Cumulative increase in the number of patents published in the last few years clearly justifies the importance of these chemicals as sources of new therapeutic agents and this study. Despite the critical supply challenges, marine-derived actives are being explored as sources for anticancer, antimicrobial, antiviral and anti-inflammatory drugs and treatments for several other conditions.
Article highlights
Patent literature on marine natural products as therapeutic agents from 2015–2018
Marine organisms are excellent producers of natural chemicals with diverse structures and pharmacological activities
Growing number of compounds from marine sources are entering clinical trials
Anticancer activity remains the main field of application of marine-derived compounds. Antimicrobial, antiviral and anti-inflammatory applications have been patented.
Cumulative increase in the number of patents published in the last few years for anticancer, antimicrobial, antiviral and anti-inflammatory activity.
This box summarizes key points contained in the article.
Acknowledgments
The Authors express their deepest gratitude to the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, Government of India, New Delhi for providing an opportunity to work on this project and K Srinivasan, Head of CSIR-URDIP, for the necessary facilities in the research unit.
Declaration of interest
P Shinde was supported by a Research Associateship from the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, Government of India, New Delhi. The authors have no other relevant affiliations or financial involvement with any organization or entity with a financial interest in or financial conflict with the subject matter or materials discussed in the manuscript apart from those disclosed.
Reviewer disclosures
Peer reviewers on this manuscript have no relevant financial or other relationships to disclose.