Ivermectin: enigmatic multifaceted 'wonder' drug continues to surprise and exceed expectations

J Antibiot (Tokyo). 2017 May;70(5):495-505. doi: 10.1038/ja.2017.11. Epub 2017 Feb 15.

Abstract

Over the past decade, the global scientific community have begun to recognize the unmatched value of an extraordinary drug, ivermectin, that originates from a single microbe unearthed from soil in Japan. Work on ivermectin has seen its discoverer, Satoshi Ōmura, of Tokyo's prestigious Kitasato Institute, receive the 2014 Gairdner Global Health Award and the 2015 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, which he shared with a collaborating partner in the discovery and development of the drug, William Campbell of Merck & Co. Incorporated. Today, ivermectin is continuing to surprise and excite scientists, offering more and more promise to help improve global public health by treating a diverse range of diseases, with its unexpected potential as an antibacterial, antiviral and anti-cancer agent being particularly extraordinary.

Publication types

  • Historical Article
  • Review

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Antiparasitic Agents / history*
  • Antiparasitic Agents / pharmacology
  • Drug Design
  • Drug Discovery*
  • Global Health
  • History, 20th Century
  • History, 21st Century
  • Humans
  • Ivermectin / history*
  • Ivermectin / isolation & purification
  • Ivermectin / pharmacology
  • Japan
  • Nobel Prize
  • Public Health

Substances

  • Antiparasitic Agents
  • Ivermectin