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lumefantrine   Click here for help

GtoPdb Ligand ID: 9969

Synonyms: benflumetol | Coartem® (lumefantrine + artemether)
Approved drug Antimalarial Ligand
lumefantrine is an approved drug (FDA (2009) in combination with artemether)
Compound class: Synthetic organic
Comment: Lumefantrine belongs to the aryl amino alcohols, a chemical class of antimalarial compounds that includes quinine, mefloquine and halofantrine.
Lumefantrine is a racemic mixture, with PubChem listing 9 stereoisotopes.

The Malaria tab on this ligand page provides additional curator comments of relevance to the Guide to MALARIA PHARMACOLOGY.

lumefantrine is commercially available from our sponsors

2D Structure
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2D Structure

An image of the ligand's 2D structure. For small molecules with SMILES these are drawn using the NCI/CADD Chemical Identifier Resolver. Click on the image to access the chemical structure search tool with the ligand pre-loaded in the structure editor. For other types of ligands, e.g. longer nucleotides and peptides, a manually drawn representation of the molecule may be provided.

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Physico-chemical Properties
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Physico-chemical Properties

Calculated molecular properties are available for small molecules and natural products (not peptides). Properties were generated using the Chemistry Development Kit (CDK) (Willighagen EL et al. Journal of Cheminformatics vol. 9:33. 2017, doi:10.1186/s13321-017-0220-4; https://cdk.github.io/). All properties were selected to enable the prediction of the Lipinski Rule-of-Five profile or ‘druglikeness’ for each ligand. For more info on each category see the help pages.

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Hydrogen bond acceptors 2
Hydrogen bond donors 1
Rotatable bonds 10
Topological polar surface area 23.47
Molecular weight 527.15
XLogP 10.14
No. Lipinski's rules broken 1

Generated using the Chemistry Development Kit (CDK) (Willighagen EL et al. Journal of Cheminformatics vol. 9:33. 2017, doi:10.1186/s13321-017-0220-4; https://cdk.github.io/)
SMILES / InChI / InChIKey
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SMILES / InChI / InChIKey

SMILES (Simplified Molecular Input Line Entry Specification) A specification for unambiguously describing the structure of chemical molecules using short ASCII strings. Canonical SMILES specify a unique representation of the 2D structure without chiral or isotopic specifications. Isomeric SMILES include chiral specification and isotopes.

Standard InChI (IUPAC International Chemical Identifier) and InChIKey InChI is a non-proprietary, standard, textual identifier for chemical substances designed to facilitate linking of information and database searching. An InChIKey is a simplified version of a full InChI, designed for easier web searching.

Generated using the Chemistry Development Kit (CDK) (Willighagen EL et al. Journal of Cheminformatics vol. 9:33. 2017, doi:10.1186/s13321-017-0220-4; https://cdk.github.io/)

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Canonical SMILES CCCCN(CC(c1cc(Cl)cc2c1c1ccc(cc1C2=Cc1ccc(cc1)Cl)Cl)O)CCCC
Isomeric SMILES CCCCN(CC(c1cc(Cl)cc2c1c1ccc(cc1/C/2=C/c1ccc(cc1)Cl)Cl)O)CCCC
InChI InChI=1S/C30H32Cl3NO/c1-3-5-13-34(14-6-4-2)19-29(35)28-18-23(33)17-27-25(15-20-7-9-21(31)10-8-20)26-16-22(32)11-12-24(26)30(27)28/h7-12,15-18,29,35H,3-6,13-14,19H2,1-2H3/b25-15-
InChI Key DYLGFOYVTXJFJP-MYYYXRDXSA-N

Generated using the Chemistry Development Kit (CDK) (Willighagen EL et al. Journal of Cheminformatics vol. 9:33. 2017, doi:10.1186/s13321-017-0220-4; https://cdk.github.io/)
No information available.
Summary of Clinical Use Click here for help
The 2009 US FDA approval for this compound is in combination with artemether (trade name Coartem®) and is one of the artemisinin-based combination therapies (ACTs) recommended in the World Health Organisation's Guidelines for the treatment of malaria [5]. The European Medicines Agency (EMA) granted orphan designation for the combined formulation in 2010 (link to the EMA Orphan Designation record here). On July 8th 2025, Coartem® (artemether-lumefantrine) Baby received marketing approval from the Swiss agency for therapeutic products (Swissmedic) and it is expected to be granted rapid approval by a number of sub-Saharan African countries. It is the first malaria medicine to be approved for newborns and young infants and was developed in a collaboration between Novartis and Medicines for Malaria Venture (MMV).
The link to extended ADME data provided below is for the combined formulation with artemether.
Recruitment has commenced for a Phase 2 trial for combination therapy of lumefantrine with ganaplacide (NCT03167242).
Mechanism Of Action and Pharmacodynamic Effects Click here for help
Although the mechanism of action in the Plasmodium parasite has not been fully elucidated, studies suggest that lumefantrine inhibits nucleic acid and protein synthesis [1].
Clinical Trials
Clinical Trial ID Title Type Source Comment References
NCT03167242 Efficacy and Safety of KAF156 in Combination With LUM-SDF in Adults and Children With Uncomplicated Plasmodium Falciparum Malaria Phase 2 Interventional Novartis
Pharmacokinetics Click here for help
Elimination
The terminal elimination half-life of lumefantrine is 4.5 days [4].
External links Click here for help
For extended ADME data see the following:

Drugs.com