Malaria affects up to 500 million people each year. Most who die are under five years old. We propose to enhance the yield of the anti-malarial compound artemisinin in Artemisia annua. We will uses a novel approach to increase the number of artemisinin producing glands through genetic engineering. Artemisinin, though a highly effective antimalarial compound, is produced in very low quantities by A. annua. The yield is currently too low to allow cost effective production from existing varieties of A. annua. Artemisinin is unique and important among other antimalarial compounds in that no known resistant strains of plasmodium have yet been identified. Alternative, approaches to significantly increase artemisinin yield through tissue culture have so far been unsuccessful. Chemical synthesis of artemisinin is cost prohibitive and too difficult for commercial application. The proposed approach should significantly lower the cost and increase the availability of artemesinin. Furthermore, the approach of increasing medicinal product accumulation through increased formation of the respective plant-product producing glands should be applicable to many other plant derived medicinal compounds.
This technology will make it possible to produce medically important, complex natural product in plants. Licensing of the technology will open a new are of business to NovaFlora. The potential impact of this technology on drug development is valued in the billions. NovaFlora will be able to develop a new product line and expand from the present focus on ornamental plants into medically relevant plants.
