ArtemiLife Inc. collaborates with Max Planck Institute against COVID-19

NEW YORK, April 9, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- ArtemiLife Inc. announced today a collaboration with the Potsdam, Germany based Max Planck Institute of Colloids and Interfaces.

The collaboration is with a group of medical researchers in Denmark and Germany that will be testing Artemisia annua plant extract and artemisinin derivatives in laboratory cell studies against the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19).

ArtemiLife Inc., a US based company, has been working with experts in Kentucky agriculture and are now in the process of developing Artemisia annua based products, including teas and coffees.

"We've been studying Artemisia annua and cultivating our fields with agriculture experts in Kentucky over the last several years to create Artemisia annua based products. We're privileged to have the opportunity to work with the Max Planck Institute in these studies," said Adam J. Maust, ArtemiLife Inc. CEO. 

The laboratory cell study testing will be conducted in research institutions in Denmark and Germany with the plant extract from Artemisia annua and pure derivatives isolated from the plant such as artemisinin.

Treatments containing an artemisinin derivative, artemisinin-based combination therapies (ACTs) are now standard treatments worldwide for malaria. Artemisia annua extracts show very little toxicity and artemisinin-based drugs are widely used to treat malaria even in newborns.

"I am excited about the international collaboration of academic and private sector scientists to test Artemisia annua extracts against coronavirus," said Professor Peter H. Seeberger, Director at the Max Planck Institute in Potsdam.

"Given the encouraging results of Chinese colleagues in 2005 and similarities between the new virus and the one that caused SARS, plant extracts and artemisinin derivatives need to be tested as quickly as possible. This international collaboration makes this possible," continued Prof. Seeberger.

COVID-19 is caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2), a positive-sense single-stranded RNA virus that is contagious in humans.

Like the SARS-related coronavirus strain implicated in the early 2000's SARS outbreak, SARS-CoV-2 is a member of the same subgenus.

Currently, there are no effective treatments against COVID-19. Medications commonly used against malaria (hydroxychloroquine) or ebola, as well as antiviral drugs are being considered for repurposing. Herbal treatments used in Traditional Chinese Medicine were explored to treat coronavirus infections during the SARS-CoV and MERS-CoV outbreaks.

About ArtemiLife Inc.

ArtemiLife Inc. is developing and planning to commercialize Artemisia annua-based products. Blending cutting edge science with pesticide-free growing and US-based production techniques. ArtemiLife Inc. is launching a range of teas and coffees - supplemented with Artemisia annua. www.ArtemiLife.com

About Max Planck Institute for Colloids and Interfaces

The Max Planck Institute of Colloids and Interfaces was founded in 1992 and is divided into four departments. Current research topics include polymeric films, membranes, organic and inorganic nanostructures, microcapsules, biomineralization, nano- and microreactors, molecular motors and filaments, and the chemistry and biology of carbohydrates. The Biomolecular Systems Department has been studying the production and use of the artemisinin and its derivatives for almost a decade.

Contact: [email protected]

SOURCE ArtemiLife Inc.