artemisinic acid

Artemisinic acid is a plant-derived sesquiterpene carboxylic acid from *Artemisia annua* that serves primarily as a key biosynthetic precursor and semisynthetic starting material for the antimalarial drug artemisinin and related endoperoxide sesquiterpene lactones.[6][12][13] As a small-molecule natural product, it has been produced at scale via engineered yeast fermentation followed by chemical conversion to artemisinin to support global supply of artemisinin-based combination therapies for malaria.[11][13] Beyond its role as a precursor, artemisinic acid itself has been reported in preclinical studies to possess antimalarial, antibacterial, antitumor, and anti-inflammatory or antipyretic activities, but it is not an approved pharmaceutical and is mainly used as an intermediate or research tool compound.[12][15]

Other names

artemisic acid(+)-artemisinic acidqing hao acid