First a little background. Scientists in South Africa at the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) have known for more than forty years that hoodia could probably be used as an appetite suppressant. They studied many plants indigenous to South Africa, looking for potential food products and testing for toxicity. It was much later before Phytopharm, a British pharmaceutical company, became involved. In 1995, Phytopharm, working with the CSIR, identified and patented a molecule in hoodia, p57, which they believe to be the active appetite suppressant in hoodia gordonii.

Building on and adding to the research performed by the CSIR, Phytopharm sub-licensed the rights to develop pure hoodia p57 to the pharmaceutical giant Pfizer. At this time Phytopharm hoped to come up with a semi-synthetic form of hoodia p57 and they may still be working on this idea, but their new relationship with Unilever (makers of Slim Fast) is focused on the development of a dietary supplement. They are looking for a new partner to help with research and development of a prescription drug that may be useful in treating metabolic problems related to obesity. This drug will also be based on the hoodia p57 molecule.

While dieters will see many products on the internet and in stores which claim to contain pure hoodia gordonii, manufacturers must be very careful about claims concerning hoodia p57 or pure hoodia p57. While Phytopharm and its partners cannot patent a naturally occurring substance like hoodia gordonii, they do have a patent on the isolated molecule. Health supplements and diet aids which contain genuine hoodia gordonii will in fact contain p57, because p57 is found in hoodia gordonii. P57 hoodia products from Phytopharm may contain only the p57 molecule which has been extracted from the hoodia gordonii plant. Products currently on the market are simply the hoodia gordonii plant that has been ground into a powder.

While there is really no way for dieters to know how similar Phytopharm