Chemists find way to prevent side effects from malaria medication

The antimalarial drug Mefloquine, branded as Lariam and used by many travellers to tropical countries, is a substance with two different forms of molecule. One form contains the active substance, but the other form causes unpleasant side effects. Until now, it was difficult to separate these two forms in the production process. But chemists from Radboud University have now published the answer in the scientific journal Angewandte Chemie.