Research Project - United Kingdom A sustainable supply of artemisinin from high yield Artemisia annua

Contacts
Website: www.york.ac.uk/org/cnap/artemisiaproject/index.htm




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A sustainable supply of artemisinin from high yield Artemisia annua - The CNAP Artemisia Research Project

Download Project Update No. 1 (402Kb PDF)

Artemisia annua is currently the sole source of the anti-malarial drug, artemisinin. In the face of increasing resistance to cheaper drugs such as chloroquine, 51 countries have adopted artemisinin combination therapies (ACTs) as their drugs of choice for treatment of malaria.

The cost of artemisinin production is high, however, because the yield in A. annua is low - usually <1% of dry weight even in the best varieties. Also, the rapid adoption of ACTs has created a shortage which has driven up the price of artemisinin even further.

CNAP is applying fast-track breeding technologies to A. annua with the aim of creating new, non-GM cultivars which have increased yield of artemisinin. It is anticipated that the new varieties will reduce the cost and secure the supply of artemisinin, making combination therapies cheaper and accessible to victims of malaria who can not currently afford them.

The project aims to use state-of the-art genomic and analytical technologies to screen many thousands of artemisia plants in a programme that represents a step change over previous breeding efforts.

In the first phase of the project the foundation for this major scientific endeavour has been established, with the appointment of staff, the commissioning of major items of equipment and the development of data management systems. The project has also joined forces with the Medicines for Malaria Venture and the Institute of One World Health, coordinating efforts to secure affordable supplies of artemisinin as the Artemisinin Consortium.

Contacts

Project Manager

• Maggie SMALLWOOD / University of York Centre for Novel Agricultural Products / UNITED KINGDOM