Liu Xu (; 29 September 1938 – 5 September 2019) was a Chinese pharmaceutical chemist known for the discovery of

artesunate Artesunate (AS) is a medication used to treat malaria. The intravenous form is preferred to quinine for severe malaria. Often it is used as part of combination therapy, such as artesunate plus mefloquine. It is not used for the prevention of ...

, a novel

antimalarial drug Antimalarial medications or simply antimalarials are a type of antiparasitic chemical agent, often naturally derived, that can be used to treat or to prevent malaria, in the latter case, most often aiming at two susceptible target groups, young c ...

. The discovery of artesunate solves the problem that

artemisinin Artemisinin () and its semisynthetic derivatives are a group of drugs used in the treatment of malaria due to ''Plasmodium falciparum''. It was discovered in 1972 by Tu Youyou, who shared the 2015 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for he ...

is nearly insoluble in water. Artesunate can be given by

intravenous injection Intravenous therapy (abbreviated as IV therapy) is a medical technique that administers fluids, medications and nutrients directly into a person's vein. The intravenous route of administration is commonly used for rehydration or to provide nutr ...

intramuscular injection Intramuscular injection, often abbreviated IM, is the medical injection, injection of a substance into a muscle. In medicine, it is one of several methods for parenteral, parenteral administration of medications. Intramuscular injection may be ...

, by mouth, and by rectum. For his work, Liu received the 1989 state award for inventions and the 2002 State Science and Technology Progress Award.

Early life

Liu Xu was born in Rudong, Jiangsu, China, on 29 December 1938. Xu Liu studied at the Department of Pharmacy in China Pharmaceutical University and graduated in 1959. From August 1959 to 1961, Liu Xu took part in the project of synthesizing new varieties of

sulfa drugs Sulfonamide is a functional group (a part of a molecule) that is the basis of several groups of drugs, which are called sulphonamides, sulfa drugs or sulpha drugs. The original antibacterial sulfonamides are synthetic antimicrobial agents th ...

in the Beijing Institute of Pharmaceutical Industry. In 1961, he moved to Guilin Pharmaceutical as part of the Third Front Movement to develop basic industry and national security industry in China's interior.

Research career

On May 21, 1977, the Office of Project 523 gave Guilin Pharmaceutical the task of revising the structure of artemisinin in order to improve the drug's effect and solve the water solubility problem. Liu Xu was appointed to be the leader of this project. Liu created a series of derivatives and finally found Derivative No 804, later named as artesunate, which has 3 to 7 times more efficacy in malaria treatment than artemisinin and can be manufactured into water-soluble preparations. It is possible to use artesunate for intravenous injection, so it can be used to treat severe malaria. On Oct 4th 1981, in the Malaria Chemotherapy Seminar held by WHO, artesunate was chosen as a priority development project. The artesunate project won the third prize of the National Invention Award in 1989. On 1988 Oct 29th artesunate obtained patent authorization from China Patent Office. In 1996 Zhou Guangzhao, dean of CAS at that time, released a reward list for artemisinin research results, including 10 scientists who made major contributions to the project. Liu Xu's name was on the list due to his role in the creation of artesunate.

Awards

* 1989, State Award for Inventions (1st inventor) * 1991, China Patent Award * 1992, (One of the) Ten Science and Technology Achievements in China, State Science Commission, China * 2002,

State Science and Technology Progress Award The State Science and Technology Prizes () are the highest honors conferred by the national government of the People's Republic of China in science and technology, in order to recognize citizens and organizations who have made remarkable contribut ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Liu, Xu 1938 births 2019 deaths 20th-century Chinese chemists 20th-century Chinese scientists 21st-century Chinese chemists Chemists from Jiangsu People from Rudong County