Thursday, 23 August 2018, 20:24 HKT/SGT

Fosun Pharma donates antimalarial medicines to Zambia Ministry of Health and its platform, Chongqing Pharmaceutical Research Institute Co., Ltd., received funding from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to research and develop a large scale semi-synthetic artemisinin process

HONG KONG, Aug 23, 2018 - (ACN Newswire) - Malaria is one of the leading fatal infectious diseases in the world. According to the 2017 World Malaria Report from WHO (World Health Organization), about half of the population in 91 countries around the world are still threatened by malaria, with 216 million malaria cases and 445 thousand malaria deaths reported at the end of 2016. New artemisinin-based combination therapy is used as the first-line treatment for malaria in over 80 countries.

As a leading pharmaceutical company in China, Fosun Pharma, specialized in the research, development and manufacturing of antimalarial drugs, and its subsidiary, Guilin Pharma, with products portfolio covering malaria prevention, treatment of uncomplicated and severe malaria is the global leading company in developing and manufacturing antimalarial medicines.

Zambia, a country in the south-central Africa, has been using injectable artesunate as a first-line drug for the treatment of severe malaria since 2014, and has attached great importance to malaria prevention and control. Fosun Pharma who sticks to continuous innovation and exploration to accelerate the achievement of ambitious goal of end malaria for good in malaria endemic areas, especially in sub-Saharan Africa held a ceremony for Fosun Foundation to donate antimalarial medicines to Zambia Ministry of Health during High-Level Meeting on China-Africa Health Cooperation and 3rd Beijing Health Conference on Aug 18th. The medicines donated by Fosun Pharma will be used in the malaria prevention and research project of Zambia Ministry of Health to explore possible solutions to effectively reduce the incidence of malaria in malaria areas in Africa. In addition to supplying WHO PQ-certified artesunate products to Zambia, Fosun Pharma has assisted Zambia in conducting clinical training programs for injectable artesunate for first-line medical staff for three consecutive years to improve local malaria control level.

At present, Fosun Pharma has supplied 100 million vials of Artesun (Artesunate for injection 60 mg) worldwide, which are estimated to have cured more than 20 million patients with severe malaria, among which most are African children under five. At earlier time, in July 2018, Chongqing Pharmaceutical Research Institute Co., Ltd ("CPRI"), the Research and Development platform of Fosun Pharma, was awarded with 450,000 USD from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation ("Gates Foundation"), a non-profit organization, for the development of a semi-synthetic Artemisinin manufacturing process. At present, the production of artemisinin is limited by price fluctuations, complex extraction process, and environmental and ecological protection. The realization of a chemical synthesis and industrial production of artemisinin has been a significant challenge in the pharmaceutical industry around the world. CPRI has recently developed a semi-synthetic batch process for the manufacture of Artemisinin. The process was successfully demonstrated on a 300 L scale. CPRI is committed to further develop the process using continuous flow reactor technology to improve the manufacturing efficiency, and reduce the cost for commercial production.

About Fosun Pharma
Established in 1994, Shanghai Fosun Pharmaceutical (Group) Co., Ltd. ("Fosun Pharma"; stock code: 600196.SH, 02196.HK) is a leading healthcare group in the PRC. Dedicated to the mission of improving human health, Fosun Pharma's business covers all key sectors of healthcare industry chain, including pharmaceutical R&D and manufacturing, healthcare services, medical devices and medical diagnosis, as well as pharmaceutical distribution and retail.

About Guilin Pharma
Guilin Pharma, a subsidiary of Fosun Pharma is the global leading company in developing and manufacturing antimalarial medicines, with products portfolio covering malaria prevention, treatment of uncomplicated and severe malaria.

About CPRI
Chongqing Pharmaceutical Research Institute Co., Ltd. (CPRI), is a comprehensive research institute, jointly established by Shanghai Fosun Pharmaceutical (Group) Co., Ltd. and Chongqing Pharmaceutical (Group) Co., Ltd., to develop and manufacture pharmaceutical products. Over the past twenty years, CPRI has completed over 200 projects related to National "Seventh Five-Year Plan", "Eighth Five-Year Plan", "Eleventh Five-Year Plan", "Twelfth Five-Year Plan", "863" Project, and key Chongqing's research projects and SciTech Planning projects. CPRI is the recipient of 30 Science and Technology achievement awards at national and provincial levels. CPRI is recognized nationally as a "Chongqing High-tech Enterprise", "Chongqing Chemical Pharmaceutical Engineering Technical Research Center" and "National Enterprise Technical Center".

Topic: Press release summary Sectors: Daily Finance, Daily News, Healthcare & Pharm
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