Wageningen, The Netherlands
May 8, 2007
Dafra Pharma
International NV has commissioned
Plant Research
International (PRI) to start new research to optimize the
production method of artemisinin via genetically modified
chicory plants. This research should result in inexpensive,
large-scale production of artemisinin under controllable
conditions. Artemisinin is a basic raw material used in ACTs
(Artemisinin based Combination Therapies), the latest generation
and most effective antimalaria treatment according to the WHO
(World Health Organization of the UN).
Dafra Pharma International NV, private market leader in ACTs in
Africa, wants to use the results of this research to lower the
price of the basic raw material to such an extent that its
treatments of the African patient will soon cost no more than
half a dollar.
Malaria and ACTs
According to the WHO some 300 to 500 million malaria cases are
reported annually worldwide. Each year this results in the death
of 1.5 to 2 million people, of which 90% occur in Africa.
Malaria is the main cause of death in most African countries,
more than HIV/Aids. The disease is in particular fatal for
pregnant women (10 000 per year) and young children (3000 per
day). Each 30 seconds a child under five dies of malaria in
Africa.
And yet malaria is perfectly treatable. Rapid diagnosis and
treatment with an ACT can cure a patient before the disease
becomes life-threatening. Since the malaria parasite has become
resistant to the older, more conventional antimalaria treatments
such as chloroquine, SP etc., the WHO recommends ACTs as the
first-line treatment in the African countries. Artemisinin,
however, is an expensive plant extract. This means that an ACT
these days easily costs ten times more than a treatment with
e.g. chloroquine. ACTs are very expensive for the African
patients. This means that the price of the ACTs, and thus the
price of artemisinin, needs to drop sharply.
Biosynthetic production of artemisinin via plants The idea of
producing molecules via genetic modification is not new.
Based on a Dutch patent Prof. Jay Keasling (Berkely University,
California, USA) & One World Health already made the first steps
in the biosynthetic production of a precursor of artemisinin.
They introduced the genetic information for production of
artemisinic acid (obtained from Artemisia annua) in yeast. Via
genetic modification of microorganisms and via fermentation they
hope to produce artemisinic acid on an industrial scale.
Earlier research by Plant Research International, commissioned
by Dafra Pharma International NV, followed a different path
along the same lines of thought, though not using
microorganisms, but plants. The Wageningen research showed that
chicory produces considerable amounts of sesquiterpene lactones
which give the plant its bitter taste. The Wageningen
scientists, headed by Prof. Harro Bouwmeester and Dr. Maurice
Franssen, could demonstrate that the enzymes that in chicory are
involved in the production of the bitter compounds are also
capable of performing other reactions. Via a diversion of the
biosynthesis of bitter compounds they intend to produce the
chemical precursor for artemisinin (dihydroartemisinic acid) in
the roots of chicory. The group of Prof. Bouwmeester has shown
in a wide range of plant species that diversion of the
biosynthesis of terpenes can be carried out very efficiently.
New research of Plant Research International, also for Dafra
Pharma International NV, is now being initiated to see how the
precursor of artemisinin can best be produced in chicory. Dafra
Pharma International NV has the chemical expertise required for
the conversion, after extraction, of the precursor into
artemisinin that is directly suitable for the production of
ACTs.
The Belgian-Netherlands research will run parallel with that of
Prof. Keasling in the USA. In fact both studies are
complementary, with the same human objective: the large-scale
production of a biosynthetically produced artemisinin which
should lead to inexpensive, but high-quality, effective and safe
antimalaria treatments (ACTs) for Africa.
Industrial scaling up for humane cause
To free Africa from malaria - the slogan of World Malaria
Day 2007 - some 400 million treatments per year will be needed.
Plant Research International and Dafra Pharma International NV
will therefore continue their close cooperation in the
optimization of the biosynthesis technology for the industrial
production of artemisinin.
In the context of this cooperation a patent assigned to Plant
Research International will be sold to Dafra Pharma
International NV. This will allow the use of the knowledge
acquired by Plant Research International in a product-oriented
process.
Plant Research International and Dafra Pharma International have
chosen inulin chicory as artemisinin production platform because
it contains some essential precursors and enzymes and is a
well-established industrial crop for a.o. non-food applications,
which means that the entire chain of large-scale agricultural
production, including extraction, is already present, in Belgium
as well as in the Netherlands.
Dr FH Jansen, R&D Director of Dafra Pharma International NV,
states that it must be the objective of Dafra Pharma
International NV to achieve inexpensive, large-scale industrial
production of artemisinin under controllable conditions via the
root of the chicory plant in three to five years time.
In the future this new inexpensive raw material should enable
Dafra Pharma International NV to place its ACTs on the market
for half a dollar per adult antimalarial treatment.
Dafra Pharma International NV is a Belgian pharmaceutical
company founded 10 years ago by Mr Bruno Jansen. The company is
private-sector market leader in all Africa for Artemisinin-based
Combination Therapies to cure malaria.
Since its founding Dafra Pharma International NV has focused on
the development of and research into medications for "neglected
tropical diseases" such as malaria, sleeping sickness,
schistosomiasis, TBC, leishmaniasis, etc.
Dafra Pharma International NV has over the years built a unique
distribution and promotional network in Africa (36 countries)
with now already more than 120 local African medical
representatives.
Plant Research International is part of Wageningen UR and is the
most important Netherlands research institute for scientific
research on plants. The institute combines knowledge and
experience in scientific fields like genetics and reproduction,
genomics, proteomics, metabolomics, bioinformatics, crop
protection, crop ecology and agrosystems, offering a unique
range of perspectives for government and industry.
The institute develops and uses genetic modification for
research on sustainable agriculture, healthy food and a safe
environment.
The Plant Sciences Group of
Wageningen UR is a collaboration of:
- Plant Research International B.V.
- Applied Plant Research (Praktijkonderzoek Plant & Omgeving
B.V.)
- Wageningen University |
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