arrival of Catharanthus roseus at London's Chelsea Physic Garden from the Jardin des plantes in Paris. It's unclear how the plant first arrived in Paris and the details of its origins in Madagascar beyond reports of its transport from Madagascar by early European explorers. Vincristine was initially distributed at cost to increase accessibility, though later switched to a for-profit model to recover the costs of production and development. According to Michael Brown, vincristine may not be a tidy example of pharmaceutical bioprospecting, but it demonstrates how pharmaceuticals with a history of use in folk medicine have intellectual property claims which are difficult to untangle. Since ethnobotanical studies and pharmaceutical bioprospecting depend on traditional knowledge from indigenous communities, the process of sourcing botanical and biological knowledge raises issues of the proper representation of the indigenous and local knowledge. Vincristine and confusion with other drugs in administration Vincristine has been involved in a number of medical errors. If given into the spine (intrathecal) it causes paralysis and usually death. Multiple instances of it being given wrongly, having been confused with other drugs, have occurred. Research In 2012, the FDA approved a liposomal formulation of vincristine branded as Marqibo. Marqibo was voluntarily withdrawn from the US market in November, 2021. A nano-particle bound version of vincristine was under development as of 2014. References External links Vincristine and vinblastine Description and Natural History of the Periwinkle The Boger Route to (−)-Vindoline Vinca alkaloids Commercialization of traditional medicines Eli Lilly and Company brands Mitotic inhibitors Acetate esters Wikipedia medicine articles ready to translate World Health Organization essential medicines