Bioprospección

Biodiversity Prospecting
Bioprospecting Agreements

INBio's strategy has been focused on developing a diversified portfolio of bioprospecting research agreements promoting innovation, learning, and an increase in national scientific capacity.

The Bioprospecting agreements include key elements such as:

Access (limited in time and quantity)
Equity and compensation (research costs and royalties)
Technology transfer (infrastructure and equipment)
Training of national scientists
Non-destructive uses

Each agreement has its corresponding work plan and research budget that establishes a 10% donation to the Ministerio del Ambiente y Energía (MINAE) (Ministry of the Environment and Energy), which helps cover direct biodiversity conservation costs. Furthermore, it contributes to increasing services, species identification, sample collection and preparation, collection records, information management, training, management, etc. If other benefits are derived from the process due to the discovery of a successful product, 50 % of INBio's royalties will be donated to the Sistema Nacional de Areas de Conservación (National System of Conservation Areas) through the Ministerio del Ambiente y Energía (MINAE), and the rest will be invested in continuing the process and other INBio activities.

Research projects involve the location, detailed description and collection of plants, insects, mollusks, fragrances, microorganisms, and in some cases the genetic material of the latter. This is carried out in the country's protected wildlife areas, in close collaboration and through a formal agreement with the Ministerio de Ambiente y Energía (MINAE). From these collected samples extracts are prepared that are tested for biological activity in several national and international laboratories. The compounds are analyzed in order to determine their potential use in the pharmaceutical, cosmetology, agro-industrial, and biotechnological industries.

In prospecting, the processes are executed in conjunction with research centers, universities, and national and international companies. This network of associations makes state-of-the-art technologies available and provides the opportunity to rapidly and efficiently train Costa Rican scientists as well as laboratory and field personnel. At the same time, this type of collaboration generates financial resources that are used to fund the country's conservation activities, and also other research projects oriented towards satisfying the demands of users who contribute to the country's sustainable development.

Agreements with Academia

Agreements with the Industrial Sector