CLINICAL trials of a synthetic malaria drug have begun in the UK. The newly developed drug, which has similar properties to the naturally occurring substance artemisinin, could replace expensive plant extracts. Its developers hope it will help counter the resurgence in drug-resistant forms of the disease.
Artemisinin, a compound extracted from sweet wormwood (Artemisia annua), has been used for more than 1500 years in traditional Chinese medicine to treat fevers. Over the past few decades, combinations of artemisinin derivatives such as artesunate and artemether have proved highly effective against malaria.
But in the developing world, where malaria kills more than…
