[Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation] Centre gets £7m malaria funding

from The BBC

The University of York is being given £7m by Microsoft billionaire Bill Gates to help source a treatment for malaria.

The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation is backing research on a plant that could help to ease the global shortage of effective drugs for the disease.

Malaria kills more than one million people every year.

The Centre for Novel Agricultural Products is trying to breed new strains of Artemisia Annua, the sole source of anti-malarial drug artemisinin.

The goal of the fast-track breeding programme is to a create a non-genetically modified variety of the plant with increased yields of artemisinin for use in combination therapies.

Satisfy demand

Artemisinin Combination Therapies (ACT) have been identified as the most effective treatment for malaria by the World Health Organisation.

Demand for the drug has increased in recent years due to the malaria parasite developing a resistance to traditional single drug treatments.

It is estimated that up to half a billion courses of ACTs may be needed to combat the deadly disease.

The new plant varieties being developed by researchers could help to ensure that there is enough artemisinin to satisfy that demand and make the drug cheaper to produce.

Director of the centre, Prof Dianna Bowles, said the project was an excellent example of how modern plant science could benefit society.

"This work could lead directly to making an effective cure for malaria cheaper and more accessible for people who need it most," she said.