Cipargamin is a synthetic antimalarial molecule belonging to the spiroindolone class, awarded MMV Project of the Year 2009.

It is structurally related to GNF 493, a compound first identified as a potent inhibitor of Plasmodium falciparum growth in a high throughput phenotypic screen of natural products conducted at the Genomics Institute of the Novartis Research Foundation in San Diego, California in 2006.

The current spiroindolone was optimized to address its metabolic liabilities leading to improved stability and exposure levels in animals.

As a result, cipargamin is one of only a handful of molecules capable of completely curing mice infected with Plasmodium berghei (a model of blood-stage malaria).

If its safety and tolerability are acceptable, cipargamin would be the first antimalarial not belonging to either the artemisinin or peroxide class to go into a proof-of-concept study in malaria.