Biotech, Fabry Disease, clinical trials

Genzyme Starts Fabrazyme Trial

Luke Timmerman 10/15/08

Genzyme, the maker of drugs for rare genetic diseases, said today it has started enrolling patients in a study of patients with mild Fabry disease to see if a low dose of Fabrazyme will help. Data from the study could enable the company to apply for expanded approval of the drug for early treatment of the disease, the Cambridge, MA-based company (NASDAQ: GENZ) said in a statement. Fabry disease is a hereditary condition related to a defective X chromosome, and affects about 5,000 patients in the world, Genzyme says. Sales of the product grew 21 percent in the second quarter, to $126.6 million.

Luke Timmerman is the National Biotechnology Editor for Xconomy. You can e-mail him at ltimmerman@xconomy.com, call 206-624-2374, or follow him on Twitter at http://twitter.com/ldtimmerman.