Brings Significant Manufacturing Quality and Regulatory Compliance
Experience
CAMBRIDGE, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Genzyme
Corporation (NASDAQ: GENZ) announced today that Ron Branning, a
30-plus year bio/pharmaceutical veteran specializing in the development
of world-class drug and device quality monitoring systems and regulatory
compliance management practices, has joined the company as Senior Vice
President of Global Product Quality. In this role, he will ensure the
quality of all Genzyme products manufactured at seventeen sites around
the world.
“He has managed quality and compliance programs for global
companies with diverse products, and has successfully led organizations
through significant manufacturing events.”
“We are committed to the highest standards of drug and device quality
for patients,” said Henri A. Termeer, Genzyme’s chairman and chief
executive officer. “Ron Branning is a recognized industry leader in
ensuring product quality, and we look forward to adding his experience
to our corporate leadership team. Bringing in new senior leaders such as
Ron is a fundamental component of our plan to renew and strengthen our
manufacturing organization.”
Prior to joining Genzyme, Mr. Branning led the quality and compliance
functions at Gilead Sciences, where he was Corporate Vice President of
Quality and Compliance, and Chief Compliance Officer. He has also held
senior quality leadership positions at Genentech, Aventis Behring, and
Somatogen (Baxter). Earlier in his career, he developed extensive
quality experience at Genetics Institute (Wyeth), Boehringer Ingelheim,
GD Searle (Pfizer) and Johnson & Johnson.
Mr. Branning has had oversight responsibility for a diverse range of
products, including biologics, small molecules, and devices. His
experience also includes the development of organizational models and
systems that produce measureable and successful quality and compliance
practices across multiple manufacturing sites. During his career, he has
been recruited to build quality programs and compliance systems that
resolved significant challenges, including FDA warning letters, consent
decrees, product recalls, and FDA 483 post-inspection letters.
Mr. Branning will report to Genzyme executive vice president David
Meeker, M.D., and have a direct reporting line to CEO Henri Termeer.
“Ron’s experience and dedication to product quality are of the
highest-caliber,” said David Meeker, M.D., Genzyme executive vice
president. “He has managed quality and compliance programs for global
companies with diverse products, and has successfully led organizations
through significant manufacturing events.”
“Genzyme is a growing company with a vital mission and promising
future,” said Ron Branning. “I am very pleased to be joining an
exceptional organization that is committed to developing important drugs
and medical devices for patients who truly need them.”
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 more than 12,000 employees in locations
spanning the globe and 2008 revenues of $4.6 billion.
With many established products and services helping patients in
approximately 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, and diagnostic testing. 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® is a registered trademark of Genzyme Corporation.
All rights reserved.
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.
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