Where Did Ivermectin Come From? The Discovery of Streptomyces avermitilis and Satoshi Ōmura

Microbiology laboratory with Streptomyces avermitilis culture dishes and antique microscope

Where did ivermectin come from? Ivermectin originated from a single soil sample collected in 1974 by Japanese microbiologist Satoshi Ōmura near a golf course in Kawana, Ito City, Japan. The sample contained a novel actinomycete bacterium, Streptomyces avermitilis, which produced natural antiparasitic avermectins chemically optimized by William C. Campbell at Merck. The Japanese Soil Sample: […]