CAMBRIDGE, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Genzyme
Corporation (Nasdaq: GENZ) today announced that it has completed the
sale of its pharmaceutical intermediates business to International
Chemical Investors Group (ICIG).
ICIG purchased substantially all of the pharmaceutical intermediates
business, excluding the drug delivery technologies portion. The acquired
business has been renamed Corden Pharma Switzerland LLC and will operate
as part of ICIG’s pharmaceutical business within the Corden Pharma group
platform of companies. Financial terms are not material to Genzyme and
were not disclosed.
The approximately 120 employees of the pharmaceutical intermediates
business will remain employed with Corden Pharma, which plans to
maintain operations at the business’s primary location, a manufacturing
facility in Liestal, Switzerland. The company will also maintain a U.S.
sales and marketing office in Boston.
As part of the agreement, Corden Pharma entered into a supply contract
to provide Genzyme with materials needed for the production of
eliglustat tartrate, an investigational treatment for Gaucher disease
type 1 that is currently in phase 3 clinical trials. ICIG will also
supply materials needed for the manufacture of other treatments,
including neo-GAA, currently in preclinical development as a potential
next-generation Pompe disease therapy.
With this sale, Genzyme has completed the three divestitures announced
last year as part of its effort to sharpen its focus on core businesses.
In January the company completed the sale of its diagnostic products
business, and in December it completed the sale of its genetic testing
business.
About Genzyme
One of the world's leading biotechnology companies, Genzyme is dedicated
to making a major positive impact on the lives of people with serious
diseases. Since 1981, the company has grown from a small start-up to a
diversified enterprise with approximately 10,000 employees in locations
spanning the globe. Genzyme last month announced an agreement to be
acquired by sanofi-aventis, and the transaction is expected to close
early in the second quarter of this year.
With many established products and services helping patients in 100
countries, Genzyme is a leader in the effort to develop and apply the
most advanced technologies in the life sciences. The company's products
and services are focused on rare inherited disorders, kidney disease,
orthopaedics, cancer, transplant, and immune disease. Genzyme's
commitment to innovation continues today with a substantial development
program focused on these fields, as well as cardiovascular disease,
neurodegenerative diseases, and other areas of unmet medical need.
Genzyme’s press releases and other company information are available at www.genzyme.com
and by calling Genzyme’s investor information line at 1-800-905-4369
within the United States or 1-678-999-4572 outside the United States.
About International Chemical Investors Group and
Corden Pharma
International Chemical Investors Group is a privately owned industrial
holding company focusing on mid-sized chemicals and pharmaceutical
businesses. Since inception in 2004, ICIG has acquired 15 businesses,
all of which have origins in major global chemical or pharmaceutical
corporations and are independently managed. ICIG companies currently
employ more than 3,000 people and operate 15 manufacturing facilities in
Europe and the United States.
Corden Pharma group is the pharmaceutical market platform of ICIG, its
companies offer contract development and contract manufacturing
activities of advanced pharmaceutical intermediates, APIs and Drug
Product formulations. Approximately 1,500 people support their customers
with specialized technologies in all international markets.
Important Information
Genzyme has filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission a
Solicitation/Recommendation Statement on Schedule 14D-9 relating to the
tender offer by Sanofi-Aventis. Genzyme shareholders are advised to read
the company's Solicitation/Recommendation Statement on Schedule 14D-9
because it contains important information. Shareholders may obtain a
free copy of the Solicitation/Recommendation Statement on Schedule
14D-9, as well as any other documents filed by Genzyme in connection
with the tender offer, free of charge at the SEC's website at http://www.sec.gov.
In addition, investors can obtain free copies of these documents from
Genzyme by directing a request to Genzyme at 500 Kendall Street,
Cambridge, MA 02142, Attention: Shareholder Relations Department, or by
calling 617-252-7500 and asking for the Shareholder Relations Department.
This press release contains forward-looking statements regarding ICIG’s
business plans, including the statements regarding the continued
operation of Genzyme Pharmaceuticals as part of ICIG’s Corden Pharma
group of companies; maintenance of a Corden Pharma Switzerland LLC
manufacturing facility in Liestal, Switzerland and maintenance of
commercial operations in the Boston, MA area; and the ability of Corden
Pharma Switzerland LLC to supply products to Genzyme under the proposed
supply agreement. These statements are subject to risks and
uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from
those projected in these forward-looking statements. These risks and
uncertainties include, among others, the continued economic
effectiveness of maintaining the current Genzyme pharmaceuticals
business in its current locations, the ability of Corden Pharma to
source critical raw materials and to operate manufacturing operations in
a manner that successfully fulfills Genzyme’s requirements under the
supply agreement, and the risks and uncertainties described in Genzyme's
SEC reports filed under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, including
the factors discussed under the caption "Risk Factors" in Genzyme's
Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the period ended September 30, 2010.
Genzyme cautions investors not to place undue reliance on the
forward-looking statements contained in this press release. These
statements speak only as of the date of this press release, and Genzyme
undertakes no obligation to update or revise these statements.
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