Page 13 - GHES-3-3

Global Health Economics and
Sustainability
Sustainable therapeutic Artemisia

Table 2. Estimated agricultural costs to grow A. annua in 2010 (Ellman, 2010; verified costs with East African Botanicals Ltd)
Task Commercial grower (US$/ha) Smallholder grower (US$/ha)
Land preparation 75.00 75.00
Seed or seedlings 1 180.00 10.00
Nursery 1 0.00 30.00
Transplant and infilling 35.00 35.00
Fertilizer 60.00 40.00
Weeding 40.00 40.00
Irrigation 80.00 20.00
Pest and disease control 10.00 10.00
Cutting and stooking 40.00 35.00
Threshing and cleaning 20.00 15.00
Storage and transport 30.00 30.00
Total 570.00 340.00
Notes: Commercial grower purchased seedlings from a nursery; smallholder germinated seeds on site.
1
Table 3. Estimated cost of production of extracted artemisinin (eART) versus pure artemisinin (pART) (de Vries et al., 1999)

Unit operations (unit ops) eART (US$) 1 pART (US$) Reduction pART versus eART (%)
From 500 kg dry leaves yielding~1 kg ART 143.91 143.91 0.0
Extraction solvents 20.63 0.00 100.0
Chemicals 2 1.73 0.00 100.0
Energy 3 12.95 1.30 90.0
Labor 4 11.99 2.40 80.0
Assays 0.96 0.96 0.0
Interest 4 11.03 2.21 80.0
Depreciation 4 11.03 2.21 80.0
Maintenance 4 2.40 0.48 80.0
Total 216.63 153.46 29.2
Notes: Based on 1998 values as reported in de Vries et al. (1999); No chemicals are needed; those for assays are incorporated into the assays line;
2
1
4
3 Significantly fewer unit ops for pART as the production required no heat; Reflects fewer unit ops for pART as described in the text.
Abbreviations: eART: Extracted artemisinin; pART: Pure artemisinin.
commercial ACTs for malaria treatment. Derivatization Costs of these production approaches for both eART
is necessary to enhance the bioavailability of ART. Other and pART were estimated in 1998 by de Vries et al.
plant phytochemicals such as AA and DHAA can also be (Tables 2, 3). Although these costs did not account
recovered and converted via a semi-synthetic production of for dealing with the hazardous waste generated, it was
additional ART from the plant biomass, thereby improving noted that after hexane distillation, the hexane solvent
overall recovery. In addition to the two major heating steps was recovered and reused (de Vries et al., 1999). More
that require energy input, the process also generated some recently, Goel et al. (2018) reported that plants grown on
hazardous solvent waste. Alternatively, the traditional tea the Indo-Gangetic plains of India could yield ten 500 mg
infusion method directly uses the dried leaves of the A. compressed A. annua leaf tablets at a cost of approximately
annua plant to deliver pART, decreasing the production US$ 0.17 in 2018, suggesting this option as an affordable
cost by 29% compared to eART (Table 3). and efficacious approach for treating malaria and other
A more Western biomedical adaptation of the tea diseases afflicting Southeast Asians.
infusion is encapsulation or tableting of powdered dried A. 3.2. Toward a greener eART process
annua leaves, which involves milling, homogenization, ART
assay, and either compression into tablets or encapsulation Some improvements in eART extraction and purification
(Daddy et al., 2017; Weathers & Towler, 2014). have been developed, but their implementation is

Volume 3 Issue 3 (2025) 5 https://doi.org/10.36922/ghes.4927