The South African Research Institute, CSIR, started a study on Hoodia Gordonii, a succulent growing wild in the Kalahari Desert. This plant has a reputation amongst the San tribe as a hunger suppressant. They chew this plant during their long hunting expeditions to prevent hunger. CSIR isolated the active molecule, named it P 57 and patented it in 1997. They sold the rights to a British company, Phytopharm, in 1998 to test and market the product.

In a double blind test, conducted by Phytopharm, 400 mg per day of Hoodia Gordonii powder, for 15 days, reduced the calorie intake by 1,000 compared to the control group. Capsules, pills, tincture and diet gum all followed. This obviously includes genuine as well fly-by-night operators. The only thing that they could not do is to claim that their product is an aid for weight loss. That would be a patent violation. So they market it as a food supplement.

Phytopharm teamed with Pfizer of USA, a pharmaceutical MNC, to produce P 57 synthetically and market the same. But in 2004 Pfizer withdrew from the agreement, as it was not economically viable.

One of the companies marketing the Hoodia capsule is