Project to Support the Increasing Global Need for Genzyme Products
CAMBRIDGE, Mass., Sept. 18 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Genzyme Corp.
(Nasdaq: GENZ) today broke ground on a significant expansion of its
flagship manufacturing facility at Allston Landing in Boston. The $150
million project is focused on adding space for manufacturing support
functions, and will allow for the creation of 90 jobs.
The expansion was marked by a ceremony featuring Massachusetts Governor
Deval L. Patrick, Boston Mayor Thomas M. Menino, and five-year-old Pompe
patient Megan Assink along with her parents, Greg and Deb, and her sister,
Hope. The event was attended by more than 500 people, including local
political and business leaders, members of the Allston community, patient
organizations, foreign government officials, and Genzyme employees.
Commercial production of a single product began at Allston Landing in
1996; Genzyme has since introduced four additional products to the
facility. This substantial growth in manufacturing capacity has led to the
need for greater space for manufacturing support operations, offices and
mechanical equipment.
"The expansion of Allston Landing will help sustain the continued
growth of Genzyme's products," said Henri A. Termeer, chairman and chief
executive officer of Genzyme. "It will enable us to continue to fulfill our
long-term commitment to deliver these life-saving treatments to patients
around the world."
Allston Landing was Genzyme's first major manufacturing facility and is
now one of 17 worldwide. Thousands of patients rely on the medicines
produced at Allston, which is one of the world's largest cell-culture
manufacturing facilities. The expansion project includes 86,000 square feet
of new office and manufacturing-support space. Genzyme is also building a
26,000 square foot underground co-generation facility, which will generate
steam to run the plant's process operations and will also produce
electricity.
Genzyme began construction of Allston Landing in the early 1990s, and
the facility was initially intended to produce one product -- Cerezyme(R)
(imiglucerase for injection) for Type 1 Gaucher disease. While the physical
size and layout of the facility have remained largely unchanged, Genzyme is
now producing five products at the facility. Three are manufactured there:
Cerezyme; Fabrazyme(R) (agalsidase beta) for Fabry disease; and Myozyme(R)
(alglucosidase alfa) for Pompe disease. Genzyme also performs the filling
and packaging for two products manufactured at other sites: Aldurazyme(R)
(laronidase) for MPS I disease and Thyrogen(R) (thyrotropin alfa for
injection), used in the screening of patients who have had thyroid cancer.
Genzyme last expanded the site in 2004.
The Allston Landing facility is a highly visible landmark located
between Storrow Drive and the Massachusetts Turnpike. The design and brick
facade of the existing building establish a strong visual link to nearby
universities. The expanded site has been designed to reflect a
significantly more modern and transparent image, in keeping with Genzyme's
continuing desire to embrace these qualities in its corporate culture. The
design also will serve to symbolically open up the facility to the
surrounding community.
The Allston expansion will incorporate environmentally responsible
building practices similar to those used in Genzyme Center-the company's
Cambridge headquarters-and its new Science Center in Framingham. Genzyme
intends to seek certification for the expansion under the U.S. Green
Building Council's LEED(R) (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design)
Green Building Rating System(TM).
The expanded facility will permanently house works of art from the
Expression of Hope exhibition, produced by people in Massachusetts and
around the world living with lysosomal storage disorders. These patients
were invited to create and submit a work of art that expressed their
feelings of hope in the face of their struggles with a rare illness. The
exhibition also features pieces created by artists from the Massachusetts
College of Art, who spent time with patients and produced pieces
representing the spirit of these individuals.
Allston Landing's more than 400 employees work around the clock, 365
days a year to ensure that the therapies produced there meet optimal
quality standards. Genzyme recruits and trains residents from the local
community for a wide range of jobs at the facility, including positions in
manufacturing operations, facilities engineering, and quality operations.
The architect for the Allston expansion project is ARC/Architectural
Resources Cambridge Inc. and the general contractor is Turner Construction
Inc. The engineers are Clark, Richardson & Biskup, Careba Mott MacDonald,
and Tetra Tech Rizzo. The project is expected to be completed in
approximately two years.
As it has grown internationally, Genzyme has maintained its
long-standing commitment to Massachusetts, where the company was founded in
1981. Genzyme has a large and growing presence in the state, which is home
to nearly half of the company's approximately 10,000 employees. Genzyme
recently completed its new 180,000 square-foot Science Center in
Framingham, as well as a 55,000 square-foot expansion of its Waltham
location, and the company continues to build its presence in Boston,
Cambridge, and Westborough. Genzyme currently occupies more than 2 million
square feet of space in Massachusetts. The company has facilities across
the United States and in more than 30 countries around the world. Genzyme
is conducting major expansion projects in Belgium, France, the United
Kingdom, China, and the Netherlands.
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 nearly 10,000 employees in locations
spanning the globe and 2006 revenues of $3.2 billion. In 2007, Genzyme was
chosen to receive the National Medal of Technology, the highest honor
awarded by the President of the United States for technological innovation.
In 2006 and 2007, Genzyme was selected by FORTUNE as one of the "100 Best
Companies to Work for" in the United States.
With many established products and services helping patients in nearly
90 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 diagnostic testing. Genzyme's
commitment to innovation continues today with a substantial development
program focused on these fields, as well as immune disease, infectious
disease, and other areas of unmet medical need.
This press release contains forward-looking statements, including the
expectation that the expansion of Allston Landing will help sustain the
continued growth of Genzyme's products, expected job creation estimates,
the completion of the Allston Landing expansion in two years and the
certification of the expansion under the U.S. Green Building Council's
Green Building Rating System. 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 Genzyme's ability to obtain and maintain the
requisite governmental or other approvals to implement its plans for the
Allston facility, and the risks and uncertainties described in reports
filed by Genzyme with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission,
including without limitation the factors discussed under the caption "Risk
Factors" in Genzyme's Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the fiscal quarter
ended June 30, 2007. We caution 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 we
undertake no obligation to update or revise the statements.
Genzyme's press releases and other company information are available at
http://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.
Genzyme(R), Renagel(R), Myozyme(R), Cerezyme(R), Fabrazyme(R),
Thyrogen(R) and Aldurazyme(R) are registered trademarks of Genzyme
Corporation or its subsidiaries. All rights reserved.
Media Contact: Investor Contact:
Erin Emlock Patrick Flanigan
(617) 768-6923 (617) 768-6563
SOURCE Genzyme Corp.
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http://www.genzyme.com
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CONTACT:
Media, Erin Emlock, +1-617-768-6923, or,
Investor, Patrick Flanigan, +1-617-768-6563, both of Genzyme
Corp.
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