Results
We find that rings were less sensitive to artemisinin than trophozoites, and this difference was exacerbated when parasite and host rhythms were misaligned, with little direct contribution of host time-of-day on its own. Furthermore, the blood concentration of haem at the point of treatment correlated positively with artemisinin efficacy but only when parasite and host rhythms were aligned. Conclusions and implications: Parasite rhythms influence drug sensitivity in vivo. The hitherto unknown modulation by alignment between parasite and host daily rhythms suggests that disrupting the timing of parasite development could be a novel chronotherapeutic approach. Lay summary: We reveal that chronotherapy (providing medicines at a particular time-of-day) could improve treatment for malaria infections. Specifically, parasites' developmental stage at the time of treatment and the coordination of timing between parasite and host both affect how well antimalarial drug treatment works.