In 2018, Morelos had the highest concentration of researchers per capita nationwide, with a percentage of 100 researchers per 100,000 residents; The entity houses the main research centers, which, among other things, have made highly relevant inventions for the daily life of the citizens.
Morelos has one of the pioneering centers within the Mexican Social Security Institute (IMSS) in the production of scientific articles and inventions that have been successfully patented, the Centro de Investigación Biomédica del Sur (CIBIS), located in Xochitepec, up to this point has 24 issued patents.
The CIBIS is one of five strategic centers that the IMSS has spread across the country to conduct its biomedical research; Since 1985, its mission has been to generate scientific knowledge in pharmacology, phytochemistry, biotechnology, pharmaceutical technology and medicine for the development of safe and effective drugs for the treatment of the most common diseases in Mexican society.
Alejandro Zamilpa Álvarez, Director of CIBIS, explained that since their goal is to find a solution to the main health problems of Mexicans, they need to determine which ones are the most common today, but also what the real challenges will be for the health system in the next 15 and 20 years; the most studied were the central nervous system, dermatological problems, diabetes, obesity and cancer, which have impacted research that will later become a technological development.
As of today, CIBIS has filed a total of 32 patents, of which the Mexican Institute of Industrial Property (IMPI) has granted an average of 24, making it the IMSS biomedical research center with the highest number of patents.
With an explicit question, the Doctor of Chemistry stated that in order to complete a technological development that can be subjected to a protection process, several stages of research must be passed, the first includes basic research outlining possible solutions to the main frequent health problems in the Mexican society.
Each of the CIBIS developments involves the use of standardized extracts of the active principles of plant species used in traditional Mexican medicine.
The second phase consists of the pharmaceutical design of each extract to generate the different presentations of the phytomedicines, the disciplines participating in this phase, he explained, are toxicology and pharmacokinetics that help determine the safety, distribution and elimination of these drugs.
The idea culminates in clinical trials enabling them to demonstrate the safety and therapeutic efficacy of these phytomedicines – medicines of plant origin made with standardized extracts.
Biotechnology, the researcher confirmed, helps them to ensure the source of the raw material to obtain a uniform procedure for the production of plant species or their active principles.
So far, CIBIS research has only shown direct benefits to volunteer patients who participated in the clinical studies; However, when the institution licenses or decides to use the exploitation of these patents to generate its own treatments, Mexican society in general will benefit.
Some of the registered patents are: the use of active ingredients to make phytomedicines, such as in the case of Galphimina B, which is used to produce anxiolytic drugs, or the steroid saponin SC-2, which has therapeutic efficacy and safety in the treatment has shown yeast infection (yeast infection).
The use of plant species such as Solanum chrysotrichum and Mimosa tenuiflora to produce phytomedicines that aid in the treatment of dermatological diseases and the gastric system, respectively, is also protected.
Pharmaceutical preparations and extraction methods for obtaining active ingredients are also subject to patent, as are the biotechnological processes that allow extracts and active ingredients to be obtained, as well as the extract stabilization procedures.
Most technological advancements involve a rigorous collaborative process between biologists, pharmacologists, chemists, biotechnologists and physicians, as well as external collaborations with specialized herbarium taxonomists, for this reason the number of inventors for each patent varies from three to seven researchers.
While for the CIBIS each of the patents has been a great achievement by participating in years of research, they have a special case of a Galphimia glauca patent that has even been the subject of several innovation awards.
The CIBIS consists of an average of eight researchers.