Govt ‘to patent sargassum microbe discoveries, potential commercial gains in Bajan hands’

Barbados is to secure patent protection for three microorganisms discovered in sargassum seaweed after pharmaceutical companies expressed interest in acquiring them, the University of the West Indies scientist behind the discovery has said, with the government seeking to retain the discoveries’ potential commercial and environmental value.

Professor Bidyut Mohapatra said the Mia Mottley administration would seek to obtain patents for the discoveries rather than allow multinational corporations to buy the organisms outright. He said the aim was to retain in Barbados the potential commercial, environmental and financial benefits arising from the research.

After presenting his research at an American Society for Microbiology conference in Washington, DC, he was approached by major pharmaceutical firms interested in acquiring the microbes, said Professor Mohapatra.