Genzyme expands manufacturing capacity in Europe

Genzyme has acquired 3.7-hectare land in the Lyon-Gerland region in France that will be home to their second production site in the area. The acquisition will boost Genzyme's biotech-production operations and industrial capacity, which will fit in well with the firm's global expansion of its manufacturing capacity. Last year, four new expansions opened across Europe, with facilities in Geel (Belgium), Cambridge (UK), Waterford (Ireland) and Haverhill (UK) with an investment of €430 million. Out of the 15 production sites globally, Genzyme has opened seven in Europe. The new piece of land will be part of the Lyon TechSud Business Park, an economical development project for the region, and will house a bio-manufacturing unit. A spokesperson for the company said it had not been decided whether the expansion would include a part-move of the firm's existing polyclonal site in Marcy l'Etoile, just outside of Lyon. Further plans for the new Genzyme site will be announced in March or April of 2007. Genzyme reported a decline in earnings in the third quarter of the year but has been investing in new products, most recently bidding for Canada's AnorMed in a $580m deal that will add Mozobil (AMD31003), a drug designed to improve the success of stem cell transplantation procedures used to treat cancer, to its portfolio.