Madagascar Government explores effects of Artemisia Annua on COVID-19
Aqre Group is partnering with the Malagasy government to explore the effects of Artemisia Annua (AA) on COVID-19. While not involved in the scientific research, Aqre is the key supplier of AA to the Malagasy government.
Since April 2020, Madagascar's President Andry Rajoelina has been promoting AA as a herbal remedy under the name Covid-Organics. The World Health Organization has responded to these claims by pointing out that the effects of Artemisia-based natural remedies are as of yet unproven. In the meantime, researchers at Germany's Max Planck Institute of Colloids and Interfaces in Potsdam have been working with researchers from Berlin's Free University and other institutions to look into the possible effects of AA on Sars-CoV-2. . According to a recently report in Deutsche Welle (DW), a German broadcaster, these researchers have found that the leaves of Artemisia extract showed anti-viral activity after being extracted with pure ethanol or distilled water. The study is yet to be peer-reviewed. The plants for the German study were not supplied by Aqre, but cultivated in the US state of Kentucky. Read more here.