PHARMACEUTICAL POTENTIAL OF ENDOPHYTES ASSOCIATED TO MARINE SPONGE AND ALGAE FROM THE BAY OF BENGAL AND THEIR CONTRIBUTION TO THE BLUE ECONOMY OF BANGLADESH

Bangladesh is gifted with the world’s largest bay, rich in untapped resources that are undeniably beneficial to human wellbeing and the national economy. However, the people of Bangladesh have not yet been capable of using the vast marine resources of the Bay of Bengal due to a lack of adequate funds and technological limitations. On the other hand, countries like Japan, China and Indonesia utilize their resources from the sea and develop therapeutic agents and molecules to produce efficient lifesaving drugs. Nowadays, marine habitat is considered one of the most resourceful areas for natural product research. Marine organisms possess enormous biological, biochemical, and biosynthetic potential. Likewise, bioactive compounds from marine microorganisms opened the door for novel therapeutic compounds discovery and development, i.e., anti-cancer, antibiotics, antifungals, and antiparasitic. Marine endophytes from algae and sponges are almost endless sources of novel compounds with numerous potential therapeutic applications due to their enormous diversity and intrinsic ability to create natural products of medical and pharmaceutical significance. There are nearly 257 pharmaceutical companies in Bangladesh fulfilling national demand. But these pharmaceutical industries are still depending on raw materials imported from abroad to manufacture essential drugs, which raises the manufacturing cost. Therefore, Bangladesh needs to strengthen its capacity to research marine resources, collect, isolate, analyze and characterize potential compounds to utilize them in healthcare sectors. Such a systematic approach to isolate potential pharmaceutical compounds from marine endophytes will help achieve the country’s sustainable development goal and will greatly contribute to the blue economy.