In order to understand how effective and safe antimalarials are in treating malaria when given to adults who are HIV-positive and are taking antiretroviral therapy (ART) the Malawi-Liverpool-Wellcome Trust Clinical Research Programme is implementing the ADAPT II study in Blantyre and Chikwawa.

Artemisinin-based combination therapies (ACTs) are the current first-line antimalarials. It is known that certain ARTs can alter the level of the artemisinins’ partner drugs in ACTs when taken together. This has been a cause for concern since increased levels of these partner drugs can lead to toxicity for instance of the heart (i.e. cardiotoxicity).