Thanks to Fermentation: The Company That Produces Raw Materials for Drug Development

Dr. Joseph Behrend is an inspiring business and personal success story, embodying the victory of mind over matter. As a teenager, he was crippled by polio. Later, he earned a PhD in industrial microbiology, founded a prosperous and successful company called Fermentek, and continues to manage it today with great vigor at the age of 84. He is currently planning to move to new and larger facilities and is mentoring the next generation to take over the company when the time comes.

The main expertise of Fermentek, established by Dr. Behrend in 1994, is the research, development, and production of innovative biochemicals through fermentation and extraction processes from microorganisms. His first push to study microbiology began when he contracted polio as a 17-year-old, during the last epidemic in 1956, just before vaccinations began. The fact that he missed the vaccine by a few months aroused his curiosity about the field. Coming out of rehabilitation to a new life with a disability in both legs was a huge blow; he contracted the disease at a relatively old age and not as a young child, as most children did then.

With great support from his late parents and friends, he began studying medical microbiology at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, and later, inspired by his teachers, moved on to specialize in industrial microbiology. After completing his studies, he worked at "Mekor Chemicals" of the Hebrew University, and when it was sold to Sigma Aldrich International, he went to work there as head of the fermentation department at Sigma Aldrich Israel, where he was responsible for developing the production processes of hundreds of fermentation products. After 17 years with the company, at age 54, he retired from Sigma and decided to become self-employed.

"It didn't seem realistic to look for work as an employee at that age, and there were moments when I didn't know what I would do later in my career," he says today, "so I decided to set up a factory that produces natural materials from microorganisms because I thought there would be demand for it. At first, I worked with another partner who has since retired. We rented a small area of 200 square meters in the Jerusalem industrial zone and started collecting second-hand equipment, anything we could lay our hands on. We bought a small ten-liter fermenter and started setting up the system and manufacturing products. I contacted an American company, Calbiochem, which had just closed its microbiology unit and needed the kind of products we developed. This has given us serious encouragement to move forward with manufacturing for world markets. I realized that our future lay in export."

A variety of uses in several industries
The beginning was not easy. In the first two years, there were three employees; they received orders and delivered products, but the company could not cover production expenses. The company accountant was concerned and raised doubts about whether it was worth persevering. "Over time, we produced more and built-up inventory, and slowly we became profitable," Dr. Behrend recalls.

- What are the benefits of growing bacteria through fermentation processes, as you do?
"Bacteria have an interesting property - they secrete natural substances into the environment that have nothing to do with their natural metabolism. For example, they secrete antibiotics unrelated to their metabolic cycle. These substances have great potential for the development of anti-cancer drugs and other substances in medicine, industry, and research. Our innovative fermentation technology enables us to produce new materials of this kind that are of great interest to medical and biochemical researchers worldwide. The company is called Fermentek, a combination of the words fermentation and technology. By the way, fermentation processes can be traced back to Louis Pasteur, who discovered that bacteria secrete gas and ferment. This was discovered in yeast."

- Can you give an example of a product you make from these bacteria?
"Right now, for example, we are producing mycotoxins from fungi. These toxins are produced by fungi that grow on food and are found in granaries and grain sources, causing poisoning in humans and animals. We produce the toxins from these fungi for research purposes, mainly to enable food regulation and control, and to prevent poisoning in humans and animals."

"We also produce substances that are antibiotics, which inhibit different systems in humans or animals and work against bacteria. There are quite a few materials that we have produced that serve as raw material for drug development," he adds. "Some of the substances have become antibacterial drugs and others anticancer drugs. It is important to emphasize that we make products for research, not for pharmaceuticals, and the raw materials we produce have a variety of uses in several types of industries. All the materials we produce are for export, and our marketing is done through distributors that are international biochemical companies. The main end users are food safety laboratories, manufacturers of diagnostic kits for mycotoxins, laboratories for life sciences in academia, research institutes, and pharmaceutical companies. Several biopharmaceutical companies have selected Fermentek as a supplier of raw materials for their R&D pipeline."

Rich product line
Currently, the company makes 250 different products it developed, and its researchers are constantly looking in the research literature for opportunities and ideas for the production of new products. Dr. Behrend explains: "We go through the professional literature and come up with ideas for substances that we think have potential for drug development or for medical and biochemical research."

The production technique used by the company includes growing micro-organisms in large fermenters, between 1,500 to 20,000 liters. After the bacteria are grown, the relevant materials are extracted from them or the growth substrate and are transferred to laboratories for cleansing, using organic chemistry methods. At the end of the process, the products obtained are on a scale of several hundred milligrams. The wide range of biochemicals includes antibiotics, enzyme inhibitors, ionophores, mycotoxins, and other biological products. Fermentek is a global leader in manufacturing standards for approved mycotoxins for use as reference materials in analytical food safety laboratories and for use in R&D.

Currently, the company has 18 employees and its annual sales volume is on the order of about four million dollars, growing every year with the development of new products and entry into new markets. The company is ISO 9001 certified, and quality assurance is regularly updated according to the most recent requirements. The Fermentek team of microbiologists, biotechnologists, and chemists has over 20 years of experience on average.

"Bacteria have endless possibilities"
Dr. Yosef Behrend did not rest for a moment and is moving forward with plans for the development of the company: "A few years after we set up the company, we moved to our current rental space, of 1,000 square meters, but it's getting crowded here because we are constantly developing, need more equipment, and recruit more employees. We are in the planning stages of moving to a large and modern building that will allow us to continue expanding and developing, in the Har Hotzvim area of Jerusalem."

- What are the plans for the future from a business perspective?
"We recently signed an agreement with an international company for the ongoing supply of antibiotics on the order of $2.5 million per year. We're on the move. As far as I'm concerned, the sky's the limit because bacteria have endless possibilities."

- Are you thinking about retirement?
"Not yet, but I'm looking ahead and training my son and granddaughter to run the plant so that one day the reins will pass on to the next generation and the business and professional continuity will be maintained. My son is a business and technology professional, and my granddaughter is the head of the research and development team. I have been blessed with a loving wife, two children, 18 grandchildren, and 23 great-grandchildren, so I have nothing to complain about. Fermentek is a dream come true, and I'm happy to continue investing in it."

In association with Fermentek