We at NAGASE, together with our affiliate daughter company, Nagase ChemteX Corporation, initiated a project to develop proprietary technology using the Streptomyces bacterial strains as host cells to produce enzymes, chemicals, and ingredients approximately 10 years ago. N-STePP™ is the abbreviation for NAGASE’s Streptomyces Technology for Precious Products and is our registered trademark in Japan. N-STePP™ made over-expression of enzymes from Streptomyces possible, resulting in multiple enzyme product launches. At Nagase Bio-Innovation Center, this technology is further expanded for efficient production of biochemical compounds.

Streptomyces is classified in the order of Streptomycetales. Although it is a prokaryotic bacterium, its morphology resembles that of filamentous fungus (Figure 1). Streptomyces is well known to produce antibiotics, as well as other bioactive compounds. A typical example is streptomycin, the first drug for curing tuberculosis found in 1943. Another example is a famous anti-parasite drug, ivermectin—the modified form of avermectin, discovered by the Nobel prize winner Prof. Omura at Kitasato University. As a matter of fact, new substances from Streptomyces are continuously discovered even now, proving the microbe to be a treasure trove in terms of material production.