Microbially Derived Artemisinin Highlighted in American Journal of Tropical Medicine...

Microbially Derived Artemisinin Highlighted in American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene's Special Malaria Supplement

Features Groundbreaking Work by OneWorld Health, UC Berkeley and
Amyris Biotechnologies
SAN FRANCISCO--(Business Wire)--The Institute for OneWorld Health (iOWH), the US-based non-profit
pharmaceutical company that develops drugs for people with infectious
diseases in the developing world, today announced that an article
describing groundbreaking research in semisynthetic artemisinin has
been published in the American Journal of Tropical Medicine and
Hygiene's (AJTMH) special malaria burden supplement Defining and
Defeating the Intolerable Burden of Malaria III: Progress and
Perspectives.

The article, Microbially Derived Artemisinin: a Biotechnology
Solution to the Global Problem of Access to Affordable Antimalarial
Drugs, was co-authored by OneWorld Health Founder and Board Chair
Victoria Hale, Ph.D., and Artemisinin Project partners Jay D.
Keasling, Ph.D., of the University of California Berkeley, Neil
Renninger, Ph.D., of Amyris Biotechnologies and Thierry T. Diagana,
formerly of OneWorld Health and now with the Novartis Institute for
Tropical Diseases. The article can be found online at:
http://www.ajtmh.org/cgi/content/full/77/6_Suppl/198.

"OneWorld Health, Amyris, and U.C. Berkeley are pleased to
contribute to this important body of work that is shedding a light on
efforts to combat malaria," said Dr. Hale. "It is critical for the
global health community to share research, findings and innovations as
we work together to eradicate this devastating disease."

The article describes efforts to develop semisynthetic artemisinin
through a partnership among OneWorld Health, Amyris Biotechnologies
and U.C. Berkeley. The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation awarded
OneWorld Health a five-year grant of $42.6 million in December 2004 to
manage the research and development collaboration, which is using
synthetic biology to develop a new, low-cost technology platform for
producing artemisinin and its derivatives. The goal of the
collaboration is to create a consistent, high-quality and affordable
new source of artemisinin, a key ingredient for making life-saving
anti-malarial drugs know as artemisinin-based combined therapies
(ACTs). Participation in the collaboration reflects OneWorld Health's
participation in the global effort to eradicate malaria.

The World Health Organization recommends using ACTs as first line
treatment for malaria in regions where the usual first-line treatments
for malaria are no longer effective because of increasing drug
resistance. The commercial-scale productivity of semisynthetic
artemisinin technology has the potential to supplement existing
plant-derived materials with a new low-cost, high-quality source of
artemisinin and thus to help meet the projected world-wide demand for
ACTs. Lowering artemisinin production costs with new technologies
should also improve the artemisinin supply so that ACT prices fall
significantly. Diversifying the sources of artemisinin will help
stabilize supplies, preventing cyclical fluctuations in artemisinin
prices. To make more affordable ACTs, other supply chain problems such
as stability, leakage to unregulated markets, counterfeiting,
distribution, and private sector regulation must also be addressed.

More than 40 percent of the world's population live in areas where
malaria is endemic. The disease is responsible for more than one
million deaths annually and between 350 and 500 million people fall
ill to malaria each year. One in five childhood deaths in Africa are
due to malaria and the majority of the disease burden is carried by
children under five and pregnant women in rural and impoverished
regions.

Defining and Defeating the Intolerable Burden of Malaria III:
Progress and Perspectives is intended to create awareness of the
continued need for funding and research to combat malaria and
strengthen the capacity of scientists and institutions to address the
burden of the disease through the research and development of
science-based policies and interventions in the endemic countries. The
AJTMH supplement is available at no charge in paper, on CD-Rom, and
online at: http://www.ajtmh.org/misc/2007malaria.dtl.

About the Institute for OneWorld Health

The Institute for OneWorld Health, the first US nonprofit
pharmaceutical company, develops safe, effective and affordable new
medicines for people with infectious diseases in the developing world.
The Institute for OneWorld Health, headquartered in San Francisco,
California, USA, is a tax-exempt 501 (c) (3) US corporation
(http://www.oneworldhealth.org/). Media resources are available at
http://www.oneworldhealth.org/media/index.php/.

for the Institute for OneWorld Health
Deborah Schneider, 1-415-277-6973 (US)
dschneider@prandcompany.com

Copyright Business Wire 2008