Genzyme expanding in Ireland and USA

Genzyme Corp has announced a plan that will "substantially expandmanufacturing capacity to support the strong growth of existing products," involving the construction of several major new facilities in the USA and Ireland that are expected to come into service over the next five years. The company currently operates 14 manufacturing units globally.

Specifically, Genzyme will construct a 300,000-square-foot recombinant protein manufacturing facility in Framingham, Massachusetts (adjacent to its existing campus), which the firm says will support the growing number of enzyme replacement therapies, monoclonal antibodies and other recombinant cell-culture products emerging from its pipeline. It will provide a strong complement to the company's Allston Landing facility, where Cerezyme (imiglucerase for injection) is produced, the company said. Construction is scheduled to begin this fall.

Genzyme also announced that it will establish a manufacturing facility in Waterford, Ireland, initially for the production of Renagel (sevelamer hydrochloride), the firm's phosphate binder for dialysis patients and its fastest-growing product. It has purchased an existing 120,000-square foot site that will be converted for use in manufacturing the tablet formulation of Renagel, and Genzyme expects that the facility will be fully operational by the middle of 2003.