Filling the Cerezyme vacuum

The expected shortages of Cerezyme imiglucerase from Genzyme Corp. for Gaucher's disease are unlikely to shake the biotech's market position in the short term, according to doctors contacted by BioCentury, even though the FDA requested treatment protocols last week from Shire plc and Protalix Biotherapeutics Inc. for their Phase III compounds. But in the long run which company gets market share could come down to price.

Genzyme temporarily stopped bulk production at its Allston, Mass., manufacturing facility in June after detecting a virus that impairs cell growth in one of six bioreactors. The stoppage affected inventories of Cerezyme, which the biotech expects to result in shortages over 6-8 weeks starting in August...