Genzyme closes OKC Facility
Sad to hear, not a lot of employees though, but they were high paid employees. For those of you who don't know. Genzyme has close ties to Bill Canfield which is also the developer of The Hill and used Genzyme/Novazyme as his pedestal when pitching his bid for The Hill OCURA site. Saying all his scientists were from East Coast and needed this high end housing. After this, I DEFINITELY say he should NOT get an extention from OCURA, I voiced my concerns at the original meeting years ago as well as several others that this was a bad idea to base it off of as well as the design was not the best out of the options given.
Genzyme to close OKC facility
Journal Record
By April Wilkerson
Thursday, November 18, 2010
OKLAHOMA CITY – Genzyme, the worldwide biotechnology corporation that acquired Oklahoma biotech success story Novazyme nearly a decade ago, has notified its 26 Oklahoma employees that their jobs are being eliminated.
Lori Gorski, a spokeswoman for Genzyme, said Oklahoma’s research and development laboratory will be closed in less than two months. The jobs are part of the company’s first phase of reductions that will eliminate 1,000 positions worldwide for a cost savings of $383 million annually.
However, Dr. Mike Anderson, president of the Presbyterian Health Foundation (PHF), said local Genzyme employees, as well as the physical space they’ve occupied, will be sought after by others within the PHF research park.
“The upside is that PHF has grown large enough that we have other companies that need the kind of technology and the kind of experience that these employees have,” he said. “We fully expect to see many, if not all, of those Genzyme employees placed in other companies here in the research park.”
Anderson said those employees also are being helped by Dr. William Canfield, the scientist who founded Novazyme. That company, which was acquired by Genzyme in 2001, was known for its groundbreaking research and treatment of Pompe disease. Those efforts also spawned the movie Extraordinary Measures, starring Harrison Ford and Brendan Fraser, though neither Canfield nor Oklahoma City were mentioned by name. However, John Crowley, who joined Novazyme in Oklahoma City and whose children suffered from Pompe disease, was prominently featured. Canfield went on to start Cytovance Biologics, which is still in operation in the PHF research park.
Anderson said another tenant is already considering Genzyme’s space at PHF, and the equipment will likely be snatched up as well.
“When a company like Genzyme goes through this, they will sell their equipment at a depreciated cost because it’s of no value of them to move,” Anderson said. “It’s an asset that all of a sudden has a very attractive price on it for somebody. We have people here who could probably use just about all of the equipment they have. That’s another reason for having a complex of companies that not only collaborate together in science, but when there’s a change in one company, a stronger company has an opportunity right here.”
Sheri Stickley, executive director of the Oklahoma Bioscience Association, added that those collaborations are important because they create the environment where another such company can form and grow to have a positive effect on Oklahoma’s economy and work force.
In 2009, Genzyme reported revenues of $4.5 billion and had more than 10,000 employees. But the company has faced troubles in recent years, including an infected bioreactor than severely limited production of some of its best-selling drugs and a multimillion-dollar fine from the Food and Drug Administration.
On Thursday, Genzyme announced that Sekisui Chemical Co. Ltd. will acquire Genzyme’s diagnostic products business for $265 million in cash. In September, Laboratory Corporation of America Holdings (LabCorp) acquired Genzyme Genetics for $925 million in cash.
Gorski said it’s difficult to shut down an entire facility, especially when it means people’s lives will be affected. But she thanked them for their role in Genzyme’s mission of meeting unmet medical needs.
“We offer our sincere thanks for their contribution to Genzyme’s efforts to help these patients and for their work on behalf of patients around the world – because it was meaningful,” she said.
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Originally Posted by metro
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