Nobel Prize for Medicine winners 2015: Malaria researchers William Campbell and Satoshi Omura share prize with roundworm scientist Youyou Tu

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Two research teams have won this year's Nobel Prize for medicine and physiology for their contributions to the treatment of parasitic diseases.
 
Irish-born William Campbell and Japanese Satoshi Omura won the prize for their work on infections caused by roundworm parasites, while Chinese scientist Youyou Tu was also awarded for her research into Malaria. This makes Tu the 12th woman to have ever been awarded the prize. 
 
Read more: Thirty years of mosquitoes, failed trials and few financial rewards – the rocky road to creating the world's first malaria vaccine
 
In an announcement, the Nobel Assembly said:
Diseases caused by parasites have plagued humankind for millennia and constitute a major global health problem. In particular, parasitic diseases affect the world’s poorest populations and represent a huge barrier to improving human health and wellbeing. 
 
This year’s Nobel Laureates have developed therapies that have revolutionised the treatment of some of the most devastating parasitic diseases.
 
Campbell and Omura have discovered a new drug called Avermectin, which studies have shown is able to radically lower the incidence of river blindness and lymphatic filariasis.
 
Tu, meanwhile, developed Artemisinin, a drug that has significantly reduced the mortality rates for patients suffering from Malaria.