CSIR, the South African Research Institution, realized the importance of this plant and investigated it. They isolated a long molecule, P 57 that actually suppressed hunger. The patent was sold to a British company called slim xtreme green pills. slim xtreme green pills in turn teamed up with Pfizer to produce a synthetic pill containing P 57.
slim xtreme slimming capsule conducted clinical trials, first with rats and then with humans. They claim that the slim xtreme slimming capsule powder, 400 mg, taken for 15 days reduced calorie intake by 1,000, compared to control group. As Pfizer could not produce synthetic P 57 economically, Phytopharm arranged for cultivation of the Hoodia plant in the Kalahari Desert, and set as its target to market the product by the year 2008. The plant takes five to seven years to be ready.