Scientists at Germany's Max Planck Institute of Colloids and Interfaces in Potsdam are among a group of researchers from Germany and Denmark collaborating with the US company ArtemiLife to explore whether the Artemisia plant can be used against the novel coronavirus.
"It is one of the first studies in which scientists are investigating the function of these plant substances in connection with COVID-19," the head of the study, Peter Seeberger, told DW.
Buy آرٹیمیسیا اینوا- Artemisia annua
The cell study will use test extracts from the Artemisia annua plant, also known as sweet wormwood, as well as derivatives isolated from the plant such as artemisinin.
An Artemisia compound has long been used as treatment for malaria.
It's not the first malaria treatment to gain attention in the search for a treatment against COVID-19 – the malaria drug hydroxychloroquine has also been hyped in recent months,
Algerian researchers had tested the effectiveness of malaria drugs against SARS-CoV-2 in April. Their study proved that artemisinin was more effective than hydroxychloroquine. Some scientists had considered the drug as a possible ingredient against COVID-19, but later discovered that it increases the mortality rate.
Scientists at the Max Planck Institute in Potsdam are now focusing on the question of whether extracts from Artemisia can actually be used to combat the novel coronavirus.
Clarity around Artemisa needed
Artemisia has also been trialed "quite successfully" against diseases other than malaria, says Seeberger. Studies found the Artemisia extract was effective in inhibiting the first SARS coronavirus (SARS-CoV) that surfaced in Asia in 2002, causing a respiratory illness.
Read more: COVID-19: Africa's health workers at risk
The scientists expect results by the end of May at the latest. If Artemisia is found to be effective in these trials, further tests including clinical studies on humans, would still need to take place.
"But even if the hopes for a drug based on the active ingredient against COVID-19 end in a disappointment, it would be a gain," says Seeberger, "above all, it would bring clarity."
'Miracle cure' without evidence
At the end of April, Madagascar's President Andry Rajoelina touted a potion containing an Artemisia extract and other herbs as a "miracle cure" for the coronavirus.
Since then, media in Africa have plugged the drink's potential, and several African countries have placed orders for the herbal tonic, sold under the name COVID Organics.
