Natural pharmaceuticals
Natural pharmaceuticals
Business Model Description
A disaggregated business model with emphasis on innovation and product seeding.
Expected Impact
Promote inclusive and profitable economic activities that can constitute dignifying income sources.
How is this information gathered?
Investment opportunities with potential to contribute to sustainable development are based on country-level SDG Investor Maps.
Disclaimer
UNDP, the Private Finance for the SDGs, and their affiliates (collectively “UNDP”) do not seek or solicit investment for programmes, projects, or opportunities described on this site (collectively “Programmes”) or any other Programmes, and nothing on this page should constitute a solicitation for investment. The actors listed on this site are not partners of UNDP, and their inclusion should not be construed as an endorsement or recommendation by UNDP for any relationship or investment.
The descriptions on this page are provided for informational purposes only. Only companies and enterprises that appear under the case study tab have been validated and vetted through UNDP programmes such as the Growth Stage Impact Ventures (GSIV), Business Call to Action (BCtA), or through other UN agencies. Even then, under no circumstances should their appearance on this website be construed as an endorsement for any relationship or investment. UNDP assumes no liability for investment losses directly or indirectly resulting from recommendations made, implied, or inferred by its research. Likewise, UNDP assumes no claim to investment gains directly or indirectly resulting from trading profits, investment management, or advisory fees obtained by following investment recommendations made, implied, or inferred by its research.
Investment involves risk, and all investments should be made with the supervision of a professional investment manager or advisor. The materials on the website are not an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy any investment, security, or commodity, nor shall any security be offered or sold to any person, in any jurisdiction in which such offer would be unlawful under the securities laws of such jurisdiction.
Country & Regions
- Costa Rica: Cahuita
- Costa Rica: Cahuita
Sector Classification
Health Care
Development need
Use port facilities and export capacity to boost agriculture, tourism and the blue economy.
Policy Priority
Promote inclusive and sustainable development.
Gender inequalities and marginalization issues
The pole has an average percentage of unemployed women of working age (4.2 potential gender index).
Investment opportunities introduction
Main port of the country (Limón-Moín) and Brunca-Caribbean corridor. It is expected that the pole will be enhanced with the implementation of the TELCA corridor.
Key bottlenecks introduction
125.94 km of roads in poor condition, 208.44 square km with access problems to energy substations, 409.96 km square without 4G connectivity, 506.48 km with gaps in social development.
Medical Technology
Development need
Capitalize on the use of medicinal plants for chemicals, pharmaceuticals, and biotechnology.
Policy Priority
Promote the knowledge economy.
Gender inequalities and marginalization issues
Stock of women's knowledge on medicinal plants that can enable them to own and manage their own farms.
Investment opportunities introduction
for human and veterinary consumption (aloe vera, chamomile, mangosteen, juanilama, ipecacuana).
Key bottlenecks introduction
High costs associated with natural product certificates for export, Intellectual property issues may arise.
Biotechnology and Pharmaceuticals
Pipeline Opportunity
Natural pharmaceuticals
A disaggregated business model with emphasis on innovation and product seeding.
Business Case
Market Size and Environment
In 2016 USD 2 million, and USD 1.5 million were exported of Aloe and Ipecacuana (10).
Aloe and Ipecacuana exports grew 200% and decreased 6.25% (2015-16) (10).
In 2016 Aloe and Aloe vera extracts were 43.9% and 13.4% of national exports (10).
The Costa Rican market for herbal/traditional products in 2016 reached USD 22 million, with a growth of 3%, in the period 2011-2016. In 2016, 92.3% of Costa Rican sales of herbal/traditional products were given by cough, cold, and allergy remedies (69.4%) and nutritional supplements (22.9%). Sleep aids had the highest growth with 13% in the 2011-2016 period (10).
Indicative Return
Yields can be expected to be between 800-1,700 kg/ha (13).
There are possibilities for market expansion and profits: The positioning of Costa Rica as a green and ecological country can be used as a differentiating element in international markets. The country brand ESENCIAL COSTA RICA can be used as a positioning tool (9, 10).
Investment Timeframe
Medium Term (5–10 years)
Aloe: Its phenological cycle is completed in approximately three years.
Chamomile: The plant develops its life cycle in approximately six months.
Ipecacuana: The harvest period to obtain a product with adequate concentrations of alkaloids is 3-4 years (9).
Juanilama: The first harvest of juanilama can occur between 5 to 8 months, depending on environmental conditions (11).
Mangosteen: It begins to produce between 6 and 12 years depending on soil fertility and other conditions. (9).
Ticket Size
The cost depends on the species to be harvested and the desired volume.
Market Risks & Scale Obstacles
Market - Highly Regulated
Market - High Level of Competition
Intelectual property
Business - Supply Chain Constraints
Impact Case
Sustainable Development Need
Constitute this pole in the port complex with the broadest scope of all Central America.
Gender & Marginalisation
Promote the sustainable increase in productivity of women-owned farms.
Expected Development Outcome
To increase the Social Development Index (SDI) in this development pole.
Gender & Marginalisation
To decrease the gaps in the Potential Gender Index in this development pole.
Primary SDGs addressed
3.8.2 Proportion of population with large household expenditures on health as a share of total household expenditure or income
Carbon emissions from exports of the pole: 1.64%.
By 2050, foster highly efficient agri-food systems that generate low-carbon goods for export and local consumption.
Secondary SDGs addressed
Directly impacted stakeholders
People
Gender inequality and/or marginalization
Planet
Corporates
Indirectly impacted stakeholders
People
Gender inequality and/or marginalization
Planet
Corporates
Outcome Risks
Exclusionary patents of traditional local plants.
Failure to meet required quality standards.
Impact Risks
Ensure compliance with the Nagoya protocol.
Impact Classification
What
Promotion of traditional medicinal plant production.
Who
Small farmers and exporters.
Risk
Conflicts over property rights.
Impact Thesis
Promote inclusive and profitable economic activities that can constitute dignifying income sources.
Enabling Environment
Policy Environment
Territorial Economic Strategy for an Inclusive and Decarbonized Economy 2020-2050 in Costa Rica: Transforming agriculture through R&D&I towards technological innovations (15).
National Decarbonization Plan 2018-2050: Promoting efficient agri-food systems that generate low-carbon export goods and local consumption.
Strategic interventions plan 2019-2022: Promote sustainable and competitive production through innovation, access to technology, application of good production and manufacturing practices, value addition, and associativity (15).
PIEG: Women's land tenure and private property are fundamental factors in the fair and equitable distribution of wealth (16).
Financial Environment
Financial incentives: Of the funds placed by the Development Banking System in 2019, 45.09% went to agricultural activities. In turn, in the Rural Credit System -INDER- placed ₡719.6 million (USD 13.8 million) (3).
Fiscal incentives: Law 7210, Free Trade Zone Regime Law; Law 7092, Income Tax Law, which gives differentiated treatment to MSMEs and SMEs.
Other incentives: Natural and Medicinal Products Program (PRONAPLAMED) comprising the country's four public universities.
Regulatory Environment
Law 7779, Law of Use, Management and Conservation of Soils: Promote the implementation and control of improved practices in the systems of use that avoid erosion or other forms of degradation of the soil resource (6).
Law 7064, Law for the Promotion of Agricultural Production and MAG: To promote the production of agricultural goods, through the encouragement of producers, to increase such production (7).
Law 7778, Biodiversity Law: Authorization for basic bioprospecting research, obtaining or commercialization of genetic materials or biochemical extracts of biodiversity elements, as well as their associated knowledge to persons or institutions, national or foreign.
Law 7664, Phytosanitary Protection Law: regulating the import, export, research, experimentation, mobilization, multiplication, industrial production, commercialization, and use of transgenic materials and other genetically modified organisms for agricultural use or their products (8).
Law 5395, General Health Law: ARTICLE 113.- The registration of any medicine shall be made before the Ministry, where the registration shall be practiced when appropriate according to the corresponding regulatory provisions.
Marketplace Participants
Private Sector
COOPECUNA, Earth University, Total Natural, Centro Natural La Fuente, Lisan Natura and Neolab, CATIE, Ipecacuana del Norte S.A.
Government
Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock (MAG), COMEX, national herbaria such as the National Herbarium of the National Museum and the Juvenal Valerio Rodriguez Herbarium of the UNA, National Center Specialized in Organic Agriculture of INA, INTA, MEIC, Public Universities.
Target Locations
Costa Rica: Cahuita
Costa Rica: Cahuita
References
- (1) BCCR (2021) Exportaciones FOB Totales por Producto. Matriz de datos.
- (2) INEC (2019) Encuesta Nacional Agropecuaria 2019.
- (3) SEPSA (2019) Comportamiento de la cartera de crédito para actividades agropecuarias.
- (4) INEC (2015) VI Censo Nacional Agropecuario RESULTADOS GENERALES
- (5) Asamblea de Costa Rica (1973) Ley general de salud
- (6) Asamblea de Costa Rica (1998) Ley 7779, Ley de Uso, Manejo y Conservación de Suelos.
- (7) Asamblea de Costa Rica (1997) Ley 7064, Ley de Fomento a la Producción Agropecuaria y MAG
- (8) Asamblea de Costa Rica (1997) Ley de protección fitosanitaria
- (9) PROCOMER (2017) Caracterización del sector productivo de plantas medicinales en Costa Rica.
- (10) PROCOMER (2016) Oportunidades de comercialización de productos agrícolas incipientes.
- (11) OCAMPO (2010) Manual de cultivo y conservacion de plantas medicinales.
- (12) CEPAL (1993) CENTROAMERICA: FOMENTO DE LA PRODUCCION DE PLANTAS MEDICINALES Y SU INDUSTRIALIZACION.
- (13) Meza et al (2020) USO POTENCIAL DE LA MANZANILLA MATRICARIA CHAMOMILLA L. Y EXPERIENCIAS EN NICARAGUA.
- (14) MAG (2018) Plan de intervenciones estratégicas 2019-2022.
- (15) MIDEPLAN (2021). Estrategia Económica Territorial para una Economía Inclusiva y Descarbonizada 2020-2050 en Costa Rica.
- (16) INAMU (2018). Política Nacional para la Igualdad Efectiva entre Mujeres y Hombres 2018-2030, PIEG.