Gaucher Community News - National Gaucher Foundation

Message from Genzyme to the Gaucher community
Submitted by Genzyme
For thirty years, Genzyme has been pioneering treatments for patients with rare genetic diseases. Our commitment to rare
disease is strong and at the heart of all we do. Earlier this month, Genzyme and sanofi-aventis entered into an agreement
under which sanofi-aventis will acquire Genzyme. Sanofi-aventis is a global, diversified healthcare company, headquartered
in Paris, France and a leader in diabetes, oncology, innovative medicines, vaccines, consumer health care products and
animal health. With this transaction, Genzyme will move into a new phase of our development, continuing our patientfocused
mission and developing treatments that change the lives of people with rare diseases.
Sanofi-aventis and Genzyme have a shared vision for our future together and believe we will emerge even better prepared
to serve you. The plan is for Genzyme to become a division of Sanofi-aventis and global center of excellence for rare
diseases. We will continue to serve the rare genetic disease community as we have done for the past 30 years, and I believe
that Sanofi-aventis will bring important new perspectives and new resources to this work.
As we begin this new phase, Genzyme would like to reflect on the year that has just passed and share with the Gaucher
community our expectations for the year to come. We have learned from the challenges of the past 18 months and are
completely focused on transforming our manufacturing operations so that patients with rare diseases will have improved
access to Genzyme’s medicines and supply targets are exceeded. We are working to achieve a four-fold increase in
our capacity to produce medicines for rare diseases. Moreover, we are making changes that will increase our total
manufacturing capacity for Fabrazyme-(agalsidase beta) and Cerezyme-(imiglucerase for injection) by 50 percent. This
includes building a new facility in Framingham, MA and making improvements to our Allston landing facility.
Genzyme worked hard throughout 2010 to make the improvements needed to our processes so we could get Cerezyme
supply back on track. Today, we are happy to confirm that supply of Cerezyme in the U.S. is now fully restored. We can
now provide Cerezyme as prescribed for all patients currently receiving therapy with no restrictions on dose or infusion
frequency and we have started to add new patients on Cerezyme therapy in addition to patients who wished to return to
Cerezyme therapy.
We are still working on rebuilding the inventory of Cerezyme that we need to ensure that this type of supply shortage does
not happen again. Once our new manufacturing plant in Framingham is approved by regulators, which we expect to occur
later this year, we will begin to build inventory to provide uninterrupted product supply in the U.S. and EU. Until sufficient
inventory is produced, supply of Cerezyme could still be disrupted if there are manufacturing delays or other unexpected
events. We are completely committed to maintaining the consistent supply we have achieved with Cerezyme and reaching a
similar level of supply with Fabrazyme as soon as possible.
Throughout this time all of us at Genzyme are committed to providing personalized support to patients and their families.
Genzyme’s extensive patient support programs include: providing access to care, identifying insurance or alternative
funding options, sharing information on resources for treatment, testing and medical experts, and offering personalized
support and educational materials. Moreover, our commercial group is among the most experienced and knowledgeable in
the industry with an average of 15 years experience per team member. We are leaders in patient care and will continue to
provide personalized support to patients and their families.
As we embark on another year together, we at Genzyme want to thank you for your understanding and support. Please let
us know if you have any questions or other feedback. For support regarding Cerezyme orders, insurance and billing issues,
infusion agency questions, or additional information about the supply of Cerezyme please contact your Genzyme Case
Manager at 1-800-745-4447, Option 3, or Genzyme Medical Information at 1-800-745-4447, Option 2.
John P. Butler
President, Personalized Genetic Health
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