National Cooperative Natural Products Drug Discovery Group (NCNPDDG) and International Cooperative Biodiversity Group (ICBG) programs

Abstract The high interest in natural products as sources of pharmaceutical products led to the creation of the National Cooperative Natural Products Drug Discovery Group (NCNPDDG) Program by the National Cancer Institute with the goal of bringing together scientists from academia, industry and government in afocussed effort for discovery of new drugs for cancer treatment. Similarly, the National Institutes of Health, the National Science Foundation, and the U.S. Agency for International Development have joined together to form the International Cooperative Biodiversity Group (ICBG) program to promote the goals of biodiversity conservation, economic development and pharmaceutical discovery.