Icelandic company Ensímtaekni ehf., which is experimenting with penzim, a natural enzyme extracted from cod, has signed a contract with five foreign companies.
Jón Bragi Bjarnason, managing director of Ensímtaekni and professor in biochemistry at the University of Iceland, told Fréttabladid that a Swedish company is interested in using the penzim-enzyme for cough tablets and two American companies, one Japanese and one Greek to use it for beauty products.
Bjarnason said penzim can be used for many health and beauty products – it is an enzyme that speeds up the body’s natural ability to nourish and moisturize the skin – that are likely to have a turnover of ISK three to four billion (EUR 33 to 43 million, USD 43 to 57 million) after five years.
The next step is to found a pharmaceutical company, Bjarnason said, to research the qualities of penzim further. His goal is to create medicine to cure eczema in children and virus infections.
