FERNANDO ALBERICIO1,2,3
1.Peptide Science Laboratory, School of Chemistry and Physics, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Westville, South Africa
2. Institute for Advanced Chemistry of Catalonia (IQAC-CSIC), Barcelona, Spain
3. CIBER-BBN, Networking Centre on Bioengineering, Biomaterials and Nanomedicine, and Department of Organic Chemistry, University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain

From the most ancient to the most developed societies, health has been perceived to be related to peace, happiness, social connections and social support (1). Its importance is reflected by the primary roles played first by healers and shamans and later by medical doctors. For the former, the word ‘health’ conjured up something magical while for the latter it is associated with knowledge. Over time, we have redefined the magic associated with healing and restoring as ‘indigenous knowledge’.

Health has also fuelled a broad variety of industries with significant economic impact, the most intriguing of which is probably the pharmaceutical sector. This industry is characterized by transdisciplinary knowledge, large investments, very long times from idea to market, a low success rate with a poor return on investment (ROI), and only a few new products entering the market each year.

In this context, between 2017 and 2021, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) agency has approved approximately 50 new drugs per year (244 new drugs in total) (3). In its 2021 report (2), the European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries and Assoc ...