Mamr,Drugs2014.12,1066-1101:doi:10.3390/md12021066 OPEN ACCESS marine drugs 1SSN1660-3397 www.mdpi.com/journal/marinedrugs Review Marketed Marine Natural Products in the Pharmaceutical and Cosmeceutical Industries:Tips for Success Ana Martins',Helena Vieira 2,Helena Gaspar3and Susana Santos3* BIOALVO,S.A.,Tec Labs Centro de Inovacao,Campus da FCUL,Campo Grande,Lisboa 1749-016. Portugal;E-Mails:ana.martins@bioalvo.com(A.M.),hmvieira@fc.ul.pt(H.V.) 2 Center for Biodiversity,Functional&Integrative Genomics(BioFIG)and Departamento de Operacional (DEIO),Faculdade de Cincias,Universidade de Lisboa Campo Grande.Lisboa 1749-016.Portugal Centro de Quimicae Bioquimica(CQB)and Departamento de Quimicae Bioquimica(DQB). Faculdade de Ciencias,Universidade de Lisboa.Campo Grande,Lisboa 1749-016.Portugal E-Mail:hmgaspar@fc.ul.pt *Author to whom correspondence should be addressed;E-Mail:smsantos@fc.ul.pt; Tel.:+351-217-500-948,Fax:+351-217-500-088. Received:2 December 2013:in revised form:14January 2014/Accepted:27 Jamuary 2014/ Published:17 February 2014 Abstract:The marine environment harbors a number of macro and micro organisms tha have developed unique metabolic abilities to ensure their survival in diverse and hostile habitats,resulting in the biosynthesis of an array of secondary metabolites with specific activities.Several of these metabolites are high-value commercial products for the pharmaceutical and cosmeceutical industries.The aim of this review is to outline the paths of marine natural products discovery and development,with a special focus on the compounds that successfully reached the market and particularly looking at the approaches tackled by the pharmaceutical and cosmetic companies that succeeded in marketing those products.The main challenges faced during marine bioactives discovery and developmen programs were analyzed and grouped in three categories:biodiversity (accessibility to marine resources and efficient screening),supply and technical (sustainable production of the bioactives and knowledge of the mechanism of action)and market (processes,costs. partnerships and marketing).Tips to surpass these challenges are given in order to improve the market entry succes rates of highly promising marine bioactives in the curren pipelines,highlighting what can be learned from the successful and unsuccessful stories Mar. Drugs 2014, 12, 1066-1101; doi:10.3390/md12021066 marine drugs ISSN 1660-3397 www.mdpi.com/journal/marinedrugs Review Marketed Marine Natural Products in the Pharmaceutical and Cosmeceutical Industries: Tips for Success Ana Martins 1 , Helena Vieira 1,2, Helena Gaspar 3 and Susana Santos 3, * 1 BIOALVO, S.A., Tec Labs Centro de Inovação, Campus da FCUL, Campo Grande, Lisboa 1749-016, Portugal; E-Mails: ana.martins@bioalvo.com (A.M.); hmvieira@fc.ul.pt (H.V.) 2 Center for Biodiversity, Functional & Integrative Genomics (BioFIG) and Departamento de Estatística e Investigação Operacional (DEIO), Faculdade de Ciências, Universidade de Lisboa, Campo Grande, Lisboa 1749-016, Portugal 3 Centro de Química e Bioquímica (CQB) and Departamento de Química e Bioquímica (DQB), Faculdade de Ciências, Universidade de Lisboa, Campo Grande, Lisboa 1749-016, Portugal; E-Mail: hmgaspar@fc.ul.pt * Author to whom correspondence should be addressed; E-Mail: smsantos@fc.ul.pt; Tel.: +351-217-500-948; Fax: +351-217-500-088. Received: 2 December 2013; in revised form: 14 January 2014 / Accepted: 27 January 2014 / Published: 17 February 2014 Abstract: The marine environment harbors a number of macro and micro organisms that have developed unique metabolic abilities to ensure their survival in diverse and hostile habitats, resulting in the biosynthesis of an array of secondary metabolites with specific activities. Several of these metabolites are high-value commercial products for the pharmaceutical and cosmeceutical industries. The aim of this review is to outline the paths of marine natural products discovery and development, with a special focus on the compounds that successfully reached the market and particularly looking at the approaches tackled by the pharmaceutical and cosmetic companies that succeeded in marketing those products. The main challenges faced during marine bioactives discovery and development programs were analyzed and grouped in three categories: biodiversity (accessibility to marine resources and efficient screening), supply and technical (sustainable production of the bioactives and knowledge of the mechanism of action) and market (processes, costs, partnerships and marketing). Tips to surpass these challenges are given in order to improve the market entry success rates of highly promising marine bioactives in the current pipelines, highlighting what can be learned from the successful and unsuccessful stories OPEN ACCESS