Genzyme Plant Expansion | Allston

Thanks^ I also need to make comments when I post instead of just posting a pix,Not sure I like the building dead on when comeing off the off ramp,need to wait till the construction fence comes down ,but from the cambridge side of the river this seems to work well.
 
fence still up!
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It looks like there's still tons of interior fitting-out to be done, in which case that fence'll be there a while longer.
 
Genzyme Says F.D.A. Will Oversee Its Factory
By ANDREW POLLACK
Published: March 24, 2010

The Food and Drug Administration is preparing to fine the biotechnology giant Genzyme for recent manufacturing problems and take a greater role in overseeing operations at the company?s factory in Boston, the company said Wednesday.

Genzyme?s announcement indicates that federal regulators have, in effect, lost confidence in the company?s ability to run its factories without close supervision.

Genzyme, in a news release, said that the F.D.A.?s enforcement action would probably result in a consent decree, ?under which a third party would inspect and review the factory?s operations for an extended period and certify compliance with F.D.A regulations.?

Last June, Genzyme was forced to shut its factory, on the banks of the Charles River in the Allston neighborhood of Boston, because of viral contamination. That caused severe shortages, which still persist, of two of Genzyme?s biggest products, which are treatments for rare diseases: Cerezyme for Gaucher disease and Fabrazyme for Fabry disease. Each drug sells for tens of thousands of dollars a year.

Then in November, the F.D.A. said that Cerezyme, Fabrazyme and three other Genzyme drugs that are made in part at the factory were contaminated with particles of steel, rubber or fiber, potentially causing a risk for patients.

The manufacturing problems distressed patients, led to a fall in Genzyme?s sales and earnings and opened the door to competitors.

The issues also left the company vulnerable to a move by the billionaire investor Carl C. Icahn, who is trying to place himself and three associates on the company?s board. The legacy of Henri Termeer, the chief executive who has run the company for a quarter of a century, is in jeopardy.

The F.D.A. has entered into consent decrees with other pharmaceutical companies in the past for manufacturing issues. In 2002, Schering-Plough, which is now owned by Merck, paid $500 million to the government for repeated failure to remedy manufacturing problems involving dozens of drugs at four factories.

Genzyme, which had $4.5 billion in revenue last year, said it expected that shipments of Cerezyme, Fabrazyme and another drug, Myozyme, would continue uninterrupted during the period of the F.D.A.?s enforcement action. But it suggested that shipments of Thyrogen, a drug used by people with thyroid cancer, might be slowed.

?Genzyme will work cooperatively with the F.D.A. to restore the agency?s confidence in its ability to operate the Allston plant at the highest standards,? the company said in its news release. The company has already brought in new people to oversee manufacturing and quality control.
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Link
 
Not good news for the region:

FDA announces lack of confidence in Genzyme manufacturing >> Genzyme stock goes down >> Carl Icahn completes hostile takeover >> Icahn follows his typical M.O. by splitting up the company and selling parts to rivals.
 
I worked in that building in 08 as a temp. My postion ended in Sept of 08. Then all this shit happens. Coincidence? Hmmm....
 
So is it true GW? Has it been true that revenge is a dish best served cold (and with a virus in it).
 
Worked on a project there to optimize production there, (which then got put on hold). They make Cerezyme, Myozyme, and Fabrizyme. Three drugs that combined are taken by less then 10,000 people world wide. They are called orphan drugs. As far as the process to make them goes. It involves Chinese Hampster overies that start in viles and feed media (food). This causes by-product, which evenutally creates larger and larger amounts of fluid, so it goes from viles eventually to large tanks. This by-product then goes through mulitple chemical strip downs in a process called crometology. Eventually throught these chemical buffers the right material is extracted. And every piece of stainless steele equiment is cleaned usually by steam, so there must be hundreds of miles of pipes in there. The steam actually comes from Harvard, since this building is on Harvard property. The plant also has water purifaction, b/c they do release water into the Charles. And the main reason we have water purification is b/c the water coming in from Boston is so hard (they increase PH b/c of older pipes in system) you couldn't just take fresh water from Boston's water pipes and pour it into the Charles. The PH level exceeds EPA standards. As for the new addition it is mainly going to take people from out in trailers in the parking lot and put them in the building. It will also take some of the offices already in the factory and make room for more storage of equipment and things like that. Also the addtion will have a cafe b/c right now there isn't one.
 
GW2500 said:
As for the new addition it is mainly going to take people from out in trailers in the parking lot and put them in the building. It will also take some of the offices already in the factory and make room for more storage of equipment and things like that. Also the addtion will have a cafe b/c right now there isn't one.
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While it will do those things, the addition was originally planned because Harvard was shutting off the steam so that they could use it for the Allston Life Science Project. The basement of this addition is a steam and power plant with a small cogen and lots of redundancy.
 
Saw an article in the Metro some time last week that mentioned Boston is the only place where Genzyme has been actively hiring and expanding for a while, and they expect they will continue to increase jobs. [/randomnewstidbit]
 
really like how the land in lower allston abutting the river, and coherently storrow drive, is being ramped up. its just too bad that right behind all these buildings are fields of parking lots.

thank you harvard. thank you genzyme.
 
Didn't Genzyme get a property tax kickback on that site? So if they don't keep making new jobs, they have to start paying the bills.
 
Genzyme is about to be taken over by a competitor, so I don't expect all those jobs to last.
 
Genzyme rents the land from Harvard. And I think the jobs will last even if and when a take over happens. Genzyme is the only company in the world that makes these three drugs. It's pretty much, if this factory goes out of buisness, people will die or suffer much. So given that PR nightmare, increasing capacity to make up for lost production time is probably going to happen. And even if a take over happens tommorow, it woud be years before they would alter anything at the factory. It's not like a Pepsi plant, its kind of a very unique dynamic.
 
It's not the research and development, but the administrative and other support jobs that would disappear in the event of a takeover. They'd be literally made redundant in some cases.
 
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