Artemesia :: TCM: Traditional Chinese Medicine

Hmm. I have Artemesia Absinthium growing in my front yard

The Scientist :: Taking a New Look at an Ancient Tradition, May.9, 2005:

"One successful example of drug discovery from Chinese herbs is the antimalarial drug, artemisinin. It is extracted from the herb Artemisia annua (sweet wormwood) and has been known in China for more than 2,000 years as a remedy for fever, including malaria-induced fever. In the 1970s the Chinese government researched artemisinin as an antimalarial drug. In the 1990s Novartis established a partnership with Cititec, a Beijing-based pharmaceutical company, to codevelop its artemisinin-based combination therapy. In 1994, Novartis was granted worldwide licensing for the marketing of Coartem (a combination of artemether and lumefantrine) outside China, and it garnered regulatory approval for the drug in 1998.

Novartis sources artemether, an artemisinin derivative, from its Chinese partner Kunming Pharmaceuticals, and artemisinin from several Chinese suppliers, notably Chongqing Holley Holding. The drug is provided at cost to developing nations and is sold under the name Riamet elsewhere. The market size for Riamet is 'minimal,' according to Novartis."