Searching for cheaper malaria medicines

In 2016, malaria killed an estimated 445,000 people, 90% of them in Africa. That’s one death every 71 seconds, caused by a disease that is both preventable and treatable. Although that death toll has fallen by 25% since 2010, the World Health Organization recently warned that progress has stalled and called for a redoubled assault on this scourge. Some of the most crucial weapons in this battle are artemisinin-based combination therapies (ACTs), judged to be the most effective antimalarial medicines. They contain derivatives of artemisinin, a molecule found in the plant sweet wormwood (Artemisia annua) that is grown mostly in China and Vietnam. But over the past 15 years, the world’s supply of artemisinin has been wildly erratic. As more farmers planted A. annua to meet rising demand, artemisinin supplies rose and pushed prices down. So farmers switched to more lucrative crops. Artemisinin supplies then plummeted and prices soared again.