Artemisinin extracted from Artemisia annua is one of the two most influential drugs recognized by the international community in China. Artemisinin based combination therapy for malaria can be effective in 3 days, which is 4 days less than traditional chloroquine therapy. For more than 30 years of clinical application, malaria parasites have not been found to be resistant to it.

        Malaria has been a major human disease since ancient times. Before the 1970s, malaria was still rampant in large areas of China. Chloroquine, an antimalarial drug invented in the West during World War II, became ineffective in the early 1960s because of the resistance of malaria parasites to it, and this resistance soon spread to the vast malaria areas of Asia, Africa and Latin America. Every year, about 30million malaria patients lack treatment drugs, and one or two million of them die. During the Vietnam War, malaria was the main reason for the loss of Vietnamese soldiers fighting in the tropical rain forest. During his visit to China, President Ho Chi Minh specially asked Chairman Mao to help solve this difficult problem. On May 23, 1967, with the approval of Premier Zhou Enlai, the Ministry of health, the General Logistics Department, the Ministry of chemical industry, the national defense science and Technology Commission, the State Science and Technology Commission and the Chinese Academy of Sciences immediately formed a "May 23 leading group" to organize scientific research forces throughout the country to carry out research.  

    Artemisinin is not easily absorbed in the gastrointestinal tract, with low bioavailability and high recurrence rate. In addition, its solubility in water and oil is small, so it is difficult to make appropriate dosage forms. Artemether is oil soluble and easy to be made into oil injection. Our institute also studied the absorption, distribution, excretion, pharmacokinetics, impact on immune function, embryotoxicity and non teratogenicity of artemether, as well as the chemical transformation of artemether in vivo. These data provide a basis for the clinical trial of artemether. So far, millions of people have received antimalarial treatment with artemisinins without neurotoxicity, indicating that in the current clinical recommended application, another concern is whether the malaria parasite can develop resistance to all antimalarial drugs. Some artemisinins have been used in clinical practice for more than 20 years, but so far there is no report of resistance.

    ArtemetherIt has the advantages of high efficiency (small dose), quick effect (rapid fever reduction, rapid disappearance of protozoa in blood), low toxicity (mild side effects, no definite toxic reaction related to the drug) and easy use. Artemether is used in many places. It is considered that it has "two uniqueness", that is, it is unique in the treatment of chloroquine resistant falciparum malaria, and it is unique in preparation and potency compared with artemisinin; "Two dependability", namely, rapid and reliable curative effect in the treatment of critical malaria and reliable treatment of falciparum malaria in resistant areas; "Two popularity", that is, due to the improvement of the preparation, the injection site is no longer swollen and painful, the patients and children are willing to have injections, and the medical staff are willing to take drugs. Therefore, artemether has been proved to be a new weapon for malaria treatment. Therefore, it is worthy of China's "new four inventions".