Jonathan Vennerstrom, a researcher at the University of Nebraska, has come up with a five-step chemical process to make compounds that can mimic the action of artemisinin derivatives.

ECONOMIST: Treating malaria: A feverish response | The

As Jeffrey Li, the head of Novartis's Chinese operation, points out, there is also a shortage of facilities that can produce high quality artemisinin and its derivatives.

ECONOMIST: Treating malaria: A feverish response | The

The problem, says Yan Xiaohua, the president of Guilin Pharmaceuticals, one of China's leading producers of artemisinin and its derivatives, is not that there are too few plants, but that the price of leaves has shot through the roof.

ECONOMIST: Treating malaria: A feverish response | The