Professor Satoshi Omura  (seen right) developed Ivermectin in the late 1970s, at the Kitasato Institute in Japan . Ivermectin was developed from the strain of bacterium Streptomyces avermectinius (seen below), which Omura first found on a golf course. It is under the category of Macrocyclic Lactones, which is anything that is derived from an organism in the genus Streptomyces. This strain was shown in testing to fight against parasitic worms by causing paralysis. The compound derived from the strain, through fermentation, was named avermectin. Ivermectin, one of the derivatives of avermectin started being used as a veterinary anti-parasitic drug in the early 1980's under the name Mectizan. In 1982, Ivermectin was first used to cure human diseases, especially river blindness . Dr. Omura and his team joined forces with several humanitarian organizations, including the Onchonceriasis Control Program in West Africa (OCP) and the World Health Organization (WHO) to help bring the drug to the rest of the world.