ALL THEY CAN EAT
By STEPHEN MADDEN

(FORTUNE Magazine) – CEO Louis Fernandez sounds just like a science teacher on public television when he describes some of the wonders of his New Jersey biotech company Celgene. Listen to his Mr. Wizard-like explanation of bioremediation, a high- tech version of Pac-Man in which friendly microorganisms eat hazardous compounds and render them harmless: ''Microorganisms are little bugs, and like all bugs, they have to eat. So when you find organisms that love hazardous wastes, why, you let them at it.'' It was the lure of friendly bugs that helped persuade Fernandez, 64, to become head of Celgene in 1986, just four months after he had retired as chairman of Monsanto. Among Celgene's discoveries is a bacterium that digests toluene -- a highly toxic gasoline additive -- and breaks it down into water and carbon dioxide. And researchers are experimenting with bacteria that can eat chemicals like PCBs. Fernandez seemed a natural for the Celgene job. Before leaving Monsanto, he helped form Clean Sites Inc., a nonprofit organization designed to speed the cleanup of toxic waste dumps. He is now a director of the group. A murderers' row of talent sits on Celgene's board with him: former IBM CEO Frank Cary, former Merck CEO John Horan, and Chase Manhattan CEO Willard Butcher. Celgene is still small -- revenues were just $2.3 million in 1988 -- but Fernandez thinks the company eventually can do big things. ''Hazardous wastes are front-page news,'' he says. ''They're expensive to clean up, and nobody wants the stuff in his backyard. Biological solutions are the most cost effective. You don't have to pay bugs a big salary.'' They don't call in sick either.