In the case of the malaria parasite, the development of resistance to frontline treatments is an ever-present problem. Since the isolation of artemisinin from the plant Artemisia annua in 1971 by Tu Youyou and colleagues , this natural product and its derivatives have been used in some of the most effective treatments for malaria. The artemisinin-based combination therapies (ACTs) utilise a short-acting artemisinin derivative in combination with one or more complementary antimalarials that are long-acting and possess a different mechanism of action (MoA). The use of these combinations has, in part, been responsible for the slow development of resistance to ACTs, yet in recent years increasing numbers of cases have emerged of reduced efficacy . There is an urgent need for new medicines that possess novel MoAs .