Buenos Aires, Argentina — November 30, 2007. South American rainforests encompass one third of the botanical biodiversity of the planet. For centuries, natives to the region have been using plants for healing purposes, creating a strong tradition which becomes a challenge for scientists to discover the quintessence of the folkloric medicinal use of herbs.

After a decade of working together on different projects, a group of scientists have decided to create a consulting firm specializing in South American bioexploration and botanicals. In 2005, NEOTROPICO Consultants was created in Argentina.

NEOTROPICO – www.neotropico.net is a unique group of professionals including scientists, pharmacists, physicians, and botanists aimed at encouraging research and product development, coaching the natural products and pharmaceutical industries in their needs for new and exclusive herbal raw materials to nourish their pipeline of products.

“NEOTROPICO works to deliver real-time solutions to corporations in order to find the right herbal extracts & formulations that will help them create and launch new products into the marketplace,” explains Dr. Cristian Desmarchelier, founder and CEO to NEOTROPICO.

NEOTROPICO’s management includes Dr. Jorge Alonso, MD, Vice President of Academic Affairs, who currently is the President of the Argentinean Association of Phytomedicine, and Dr. Jorge Weil, MD, Vice President for New Business Developments. NEOTROPICO is assisted by a group of select senior consultants as needed for each specific project.

NEOTROPICO has recently published “Plantas Medicinales Autoctonas de la Argentina,” a botanical handbook with 120 monographs of plants of the region. In addition, NEOTROPICO’s team has finalized research on Maytenus ilicifolia – locally called Congorosa – and its effects on Helicobacter pylori. Maytenus ilicifolia is an herb known for its gastric antiulcerogenic properties.

NEOTROPICO has performed research on many herbs including Cecropia adenopus – its popular name is Ambay -- and Phyllantus selowianus known in South America as Sarandi Blanco.

Alonso and Weil have finalized an extended monograph on Ilex paraguarienses – Yerba mate -- to be published in 2008 in the USA.

“We are aware of the unique plant diversity in South America, but in truth there has been very little interest in this region yet,” states Dr. Desmarchelier. “If you look into the market, you’ll notice that very few products are derived from South American plants. Thus, we believe that the region has enormous potential waiting to be discovered.

Thanks to its strong expertise in the field of project management, NEOTROPICO offers a full range of services from the identification of innovative South American ethno botanical leads for foods, cosmetics, supplements, medicines, and fiber products, to the design and management of R&D projects for product development of new herbal products.

“Our headquarters are located in Buenos Aires, Argentina, and last August we opened an office in Los Angeles, California in order to better assist USA corporations” expresses Desmarchelier, “Dr. Jorge Weil is in charge of NEOTROPICO in the USA.”

For further information, please visit www.neotropico.net or contact:

Argentina: Dr. Cristian Desmarchelier Phone: + 54911 4098-4174
e-mail: [email protected]

USA: Jorge Weil, MD, e-mail: [email protected]. Phone 310 704 2980.