Programme Catalogue

A Gift from the Earth - Synopsis

The discovery of Ivermectin has been described as one of the greatest health interventions of the 20th century - the century when antibiotics were first brought into routine medical use.

The Kitasato Institute in Tokyo, Japan is famed for its research using biological sources such as marine life, soil samples and plants. It was after a routine sampling of soil in an area some three hours south of Tokyo that Professor Satoshi Omura recognized the potential of one of the compounds extracted. However turning a compound into a drug takes a lot of money and expertise so he formed an alliance with the US giant, Merck, Sharpe and Dohme.

The resulting drug known, Ivermectin, became successful in treating livestock against debilitating parasites which cause massive losses to the industry. But years after it was successfully introduced to veterinary medicine it also became apparent that a version could be developed for human use. Onchocerciasis or River Blindness is a devastating problem in Africa and when trials on humans showed how simply and easily Ivermectin could solve the problem and eventually eliminate it, Merck and the World Health Organization entered into a Public-Private partnership. Merck funded the production of the new drug, Mectizan, and the WHO distributed it for free use in countries affected. Now the disease has been cleared from some 11 countries with more to follow.

Links:

www.who.int
www.who.int/tdr
www.worldbank.org
www.merck.com
www.kitasato.ac.jp