Herbal drug used to model new malaria drug

A Johns Hopkins University research team has developed a synthetic drug based on a Chinese herbal folk remedy that cured malaria-infected mice with a single shot. And they developed an oral medication that worked in mice after three doses. The therapy contains an oxygen-oxygen unit that destroys the malaria parasite. Gary Posner, Scowe Professor of Chemistry in the Krieger School of Arts and Sciences at Johns Hopkins, says that he believes the drugs could be more effective and far safer than standard therapies in use today.

"We are disclosing, for the first time, the curative activity of a new generation of compounds that are long-lasting and therapeutic, even when used by themselves," Posner said. "Older drugs in this family of peroxide antimalarials also are known to be fast-acting, but they are unfortunately short-lived and not curative when used by themselves."

- here's the report on the research from Huliq