MAY 2, 2023 — Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) and UTSA have developed a method to synthesize the highly potent antimalarial drug artemisinin, which could lead to a more cost-effective treatment for malaria. The work, recently featured on the cover of the scientific journal Organic Letters, was supported by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation as well as a grant from the Connecting through Research Partnerships (Connect) program, a joint effort by UTSA and SwRI to enhance scientific collaboration between the two institutions.
In 2021, 247 million cases of malaria led to 619,000 deaths worldwide. The most effective malaria treatments utilize the drug artemisinin, which is derived from the sweet wormwood plant, Artemisia annua. However, the process of isolating artemisinin from the plant is time-consuming, and crop yields are susceptible to weather patterns, insect pests and other factors. Despite scientific advancements in treatment methods, the cost of artemisinin still burdens the countries most affected by malaria.
“We were able to develop a novel way of synthesizing artemisinin that mimics how it’s made in nature,” said Shawn Blumberg of SwRI’s Chemistry and Chemical Engineering Division. “Our method mimics the biosynthetic pathway of how artemisinin is made in the plant where it originates, Artemisia annua. We studied the intermediate compounds along that pathway and then used chemistry to create those same intermediates and recreate the pathway.”
In 2020, Blumberg and UTSA chemistry professor Doug Frantz received a $125,000 grant from the Connect program to build on work supported by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to create a more cost-effective way to synthesize artemisinin.
“There was nothing in public scientific literature that suggested this would work,” Frantz said. “This was challenging chemistry that we were trying to pull off, but we let science tell us where to go. It enabled us to design a process of taking a common intermediate in the biosynthetic pathway for artemisinin and converting it all the way to Artemisinic acid, which is the direct precursor to artemisinin.”
Blumberg and Frantz hope drug companies will take advantage of their work and offer a more potent and cost-effective malaria treatment to the impoverished countries that need it the most, especially considering the inherent risks of drought, wildfire and insects that come with depending on a plant that can only grow in certain parts of the world.
“The supply of artemisinin is still kind of erratic, which causes prices to be erratic as well, and countries dealing with this endemic need a stable, cost-effective solution,” Blumberg said. “While the new process we’ve created might not completely supplant current methods, it can complement other approaches and help to stabilize the world’s supply of artemisinin.”
SwRI’s Executive Office and UTSA’s Office of the Vice President for Research, Economic Development, and Knowledge Enterprise sponsor the collaborative Connect program, which offers grant opportunities to enhance greater scientific collaboration between the two institutions.
UTSA Today is produced by University Communications and Marketing, the official news source of The University of Texas at San Antonio. Send your feedback to news@utsa.edu. Keep up-to-date on UTSA news by visiting UTSA Today. Connect with UTSA online at Facebook, Twitter, Youtube and Instagram.
This event will acknowledge graduating seniors from the McNair Scholars program at UTSA before inducting the new cohort of scholars into the program.
North Paseo Building (NPB 5.140), Main CampusAt this memorable celebration, UTSA graduates will be introduced one-by-one to cross the stage and accept their doctoral degrees.
Arts Building Recital Hall, Main CampusRoadrunner Walk is an event for graduating students to have a memorable walk on campus to celebrate an important milestone and their achievements. Graduates will walk along the Paseo while being celebrated by the UTSA community, friends, and family members.
Student Union Paseo, Main CampusCelebrate the accomplishments of College of Education and Human Development, College for Health, Community and Policy, College of Sciences and University College.
Alamodome, 100 Montana St.Celebrate the accomplishments of Alvarez College of Business, College of Liberal and Fine Arts and Klesse College of Engineering and Integrated Design.
Alamodome, 100 Montana St.The University of Texas at San Antonio is dedicated to the advancement of knowledge through research and discovery, teaching and learning, community engagement and public service. As an institution of access and excellence, UTSA embraces multicultural traditions and serves as a center for intellectual and creative resources as well as a catalyst for socioeconomic development and the commercialization of intellectual property - for Texas, the nation and the world.
To be a premier public research university, providing access to educational excellence and preparing citizen leaders for the global environment.
We encourage an environment of dialogue and discovery, where integrity, excellence, inclusiveness, respect, collaboration and innovation are fostered.
UTSA is a proud Hispanic Serving Institution (HSI) as designated by the U.S. Department of Education .
The University of Texas at San Antonio, a Hispanic Serving Institution situated in a global city that has been a crossroads of peoples and cultures for centuries, values diversity and inclusion in all aspects of university life. As an institution expressly founded to advance the education of Mexican Americans and other underserved communities, our university is committed to promoting access for all. UTSA, a premier public research university, fosters academic excellence through a community of dialogue, discovery and innovation that embraces the uniqueness of each voice.