CAS Number 4085-31-8 ChemSpider 109031 ChEBI CHEBI:91231 | PubChem CID 122262 UNII A0HV2Q956Y Molar mass 535.51 g/mol | |
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ATC code P01BF05 (WHO) (combination with artenimol),
P01BX02 (WHO) (combination with arterolane) | ||
Piperaquine is an antimalarial drug, a bisquinoline first synthesised in the 1960s, and used extensively in China and Indochina as prophylaxis and treatment during the next 20 years. Usage declined in the 1980s as piperaquine-resistant strains of P. falciparum arose and artemisinin-based antimalarials became available. However, Chinese scientists have been studying whether piperaquine can still be used therapeutically in combination with artemisinin.
Piperaquine is characterized by slow absorption and a long biological half-life, making it a good partner drug with artemisinin derivatives which are fast acting but have a short biological half-life.
The fixed-dose combination dihydroartemisinin-piperaquine (Eurartesim) was submitted for approval to the European Medicines Agency in 2009.