“This week, PATH and our partners celebrated the official launch of the production line for a new synthetic version of artemisinin, the key ingredient for the gold-standard malaria treatment — one that plays a major role in protecting the lives of children and adults worldwide,” PATH President and CEO Steve Davis writes in the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation’s “Impatient Optimists” blog. “With more than 200 million people sickened and about 650,000 killed by malaria each year, this new source of artemisinin will have a dramatic impact on global efforts to fight malaria and save lives,” he states, adding, “I’m gratified to see the efforts of our strong partnerships come to fruition and to see a growing trend in cross-sector collaboration among our sister organizations in global health” (4/17).