: Isolated in 1820 by French chemists, this "Jesuit's powder" became the first world-standard treatment.
The story of antimalarial drugs is a millennia-long race between human ingenuity and a parasite that constantly evolves to outsmart its cures. It is a narrative that spans ancient forests, secret wartime laboratories, and modern-day medical miracles. 1. The Ancient Bitter Bark antimalarial drug
During the 1960s, as malaria took a heavy toll on soldiers during the Vietnam War, standard drugs like chloroquine began to fail. In China, a secret military project named was launched to find a new cure. : Isolated in 1820 by French chemists, this
Long before laboratories existed, the story began in the Andean forests of South America with the . Legend has it that an indigenous Peruvian man, suffering from a high fever, drank from a pool of bitter water where a Cinchona trunk had fallen—and his fever broke. Long before laboratories existed, the story began in
: A scientist tasked with the mission turned to ancient medical texts. She discovered a reference to "sweet wormwood" ( Artemisia annua ) being used to treat fever in 340 AD.
The race for new drugs hasn't been without controversy. (Lariam), developed by the US Army in the 1970s, was a powerful long-acting drug. However, it became notorious for severe neuropsychiatric side effects, including: