historical moments
The Artemisinin Enterprise was a funding approach by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation that supported three complementary scientific projects aimed at improving artemisinin production technologies and reducing the price of ACTs. They would accomplish this by:
- Diversifying sources of high quality artemisinin
- Stabilizing supplies & preventing cyclical fluctuations in artemisinin availability
- Lowering the cost of artemisinin production
| Semi-synthetic artemisinin |
A partnership of the Institute for OneWorld Health, University of California, Berkeley, Amyris, and sanofi-aventis called the Artemisinin Project, used synthetic biology and classic chemistry techniques to develop semi-synthetic artemisinin. |
| Fast-track breeding: Artemisia |
The Centre for Novel Agricultural Products (CNAP) at the University of York, UK, applied fast-track breeding technologies to Artemisia annua with the aim of creating new, non-genetically modified (GM) varieties with increased artemisinin yields. |
| New class of synthetic peroxides |
The Medicines for Malaria Venture (MMV) collaborated with a number of research partners including the University of Nebraska, Monash University, and the Swiss Tropical Institute, on the development of a new class of antimalarial compounds with a peroxide bond similar to that of the artemisinin molecule |
The projects collaborated to ensure maximum impact on ACT supply chains and that the new technologies would not enter substandard drug or monotherapy supply chains. See the websites of the other two projects for an update:
The CNAP Artemisia Research Project
Synthetic peroxide compounds
Over the course of the grant awarded by Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the Artemisinin project aimed to create, optimize, scale-up, and industrialize microbial production systems to make bulk artemisinin available for incorporation into ACTs at an affordable price and with consistent high quality.
