Thyroid Patients in 35 Countries Benefit from Israeli Industry

Thyroid patients in 35 countries are benefiting from diagnostic kits produced by the Ames-Yissum plant in Jerusalem, a joint enterprise of the Hebrew University’s Yissum Research Development Co. and the Ames division of Miles Laboratories, Inc., of Elkhart, Indiana. The company, which celebrated its tenth anniversary last week, has reached annual sales of $2.6 million. Ninety-eight percent of its product is exported.

For the city of Jerusalem, an enterprise such as Ames-Yissum is one answer to the need to establish industries which can sustain the capital’s fast-growing population. The company boasts of one of the highest sales-per-worker ratios in the country, and has the added advantage of being smokeless and noiseless.

The company also possesses political significance for Israel. Undeterred by the Arab boycott, it has increasingly expanded its activities in Israel which range from producing sophisticated chemicals to manufacturing chemical intermediaries and nutrients obtained from plants.

According to an executive of Miles Laboratories, the enterprise it set up with Hebrew University in making Ames-Yissum has surpassed all initial production forecasts. Manpower has increased from six to 160 persons and the company’s floor space was increased ten-fold. Although it moved only three years ago to a five-story plant which houses laboratories, production space, administrative offices, animal quarters, and warehousing, it is expected that the new premises will only serve the company’s needs for another five-seven years.

The company’s testing systems can be used in assessing thyroid function, monitoring the wellbeing of a fetus, and monitoring drugs. Its scientific staff cover a wide range of disciplines, including biochemistry, immunology, microbiology, virology, organic chemistry and biology.