Genzyme outsources manufacturing services for Boston plant

The Boston Business Journal reports that Genzyme is contracting with an outside company to provide manufacturing services at its plant in Allston, Mass. The biotechnology company, known for its approved drugs to treat rare diseases, announced it will enter an agreement with Lake Forest, Ill.-base Hospira Worldwide Inc. to provide fill and finish manufacturing services for four of the company’s drugs. Genzyme will still produce drugs at the plant, after the agreement is set in motion. This summer’s six-week shutdown of the Allston plant, after the discovery of a virus, has led to shortages of two of the four drugs. Those drugs include Fabrazyme, a treatment for Fabry disease, and Cerezyme, a treatment for Gaucher disease. A third drug that is part of the agreement, Myozyme, is produced both at the Allston plant, and at a plant in Belgium. The financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. The agreement is contingent on Genzyme’s ability to secure the necessary regulatory approvals to outsource these parts of the manufacturing process.