Research report 2018 - Max Planck Institute of Colloids and Interfaces
Malaria and cancer drugs from plant waste, light and air
Authors
Seeberger, Peter H.
Departments
Max-Planck-Institut für Kolloid- und Grenzflächenforschung, Potsdam-Golm
Summary
Artemisinin, the basis of the currently most effective malaria drug, is derived from the annual wormwood plant (Artemisia annua). However, the purification is inefficient and expensive, so that half of the drug market is served with ineffective counterfeits. We have developed an environmentally friendly process whereby a waste product produced by the plant is rapidly and efficiently converted to the drug using light-activated oxygen. The very environmentally friendly, patented process is now being developed in the USA by the spin-off ArtemiFlow for industrial application.