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Finding new ways to produce key antimalarial

24 Nov 2008

Paul Chinnock

Source: Roll Back Malaria Partnership (see original article)
Source: BBC (see original article)

The recommended treatment for malaria is artemisinin combination therapy (ACT), replacing older and increasingly ineffective medicines. But how can the world produce enough artemisinin to meet demand and how can the new drugs be manufactured more cheaply?

One new initiative seeking ways to reduce economic barriers preventing access to ACTs is the Artemisinin Enterprise, which recently held a conference at the University of York, UK. The meeting was co-sponsored by the Roll Back Malaria Partnership.

Around 100 million ACT drugs were sold in 2006, but demand is forecast to double over the next four years, potentially growing to over 300 million doses annually. At present, ACTs are much more expensive than the drugs they are replacing; a treatment costs a little over $2 but this is still more than most of the people who need treatment can afford to pay. There is predicted to be an artemisinin shortage by 2010, as insufficient supplies of the Artemisia annua wormwood plant, the source of artemisinin, are being grown.

The Artemisinin Enterprise is examining potential new technologies that could help increase artemisinin supply and reduce costs. Each of the three organizations which have come together to form the Enterprise is investigating a different approach.

• The Centre for Novel Agricultural Products (CNAP) at the University of York is using fast-track plant breeding to create crops that produce higher yields of artemisinin. CNAP will not be using GM crops, because of the time delay that would be needed to overcome the associated regulatory hurdles.

• The Medicines for Malaria Venture is developing synthetic artemisinin-like drugs. These experimental drugs have already been shown to cure malaria in mice. Human trials will begin early next year.

• The non-for-profit pharmaceutical company the Institute for One World Health is using fermentation and innovative synthetic chemistry to produce artemisinin. The Institute’s Dr Philippe Desjeux said: ‘Our goal is to create a stable, second source of artemisinin to supplement existing natural sources. It is hoped that this source of semi-synthetic artemisinin will be more affordable for drug manufacturers. In turn, this will help reduce the price of ACTs, making them more accessible to people in malaria afflicted countries.’ The Institute hopes to be able to begin production by 2011 or 2012.

A report of the York meeting has now been published and is featured on TropIKA.net here.

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