Wednesday, January 19, 2011

Genzyme CEO willing to wait on buyout

By Julie M. Donnelly, Boston Business Journal

Genzyme Corp. CEO Henri Termeer said that negotiations with its would-be acquirer, French pharmaceutical company Sanofi-Aventis, continue to revolve around the potential value of Genzyme’s drug candidate for multiple sclerosis, adding that “it’s going to take some time to figure out the next step.” The upcoming tender offer deadline for the company is “administrative” and easily can be changed, Termeer said.

Termeer, speaking at a Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce breakfast, indicated he would be willing to wait three or four months to get the deal done, at which point his company would have new data he believes will prove the value of the experimental MS therapy.

Having the late-stage clinical trial results in hand for alemtuzumab (now marketed as Campath as a treatment for leukemia), Termeer said, “can capture value. If we can capture value, then the possibility of a transaction is real. If we can’t capture the value, then we might have to wait.”

Asked whether Sanofi (NYSE:SNY) had two choices — to take Termeer’s word for it now that the drug would be a blockbuster, or to wait three or four months for the results – Termeer said, “I would not be so crude, of course, to say that, but yes, those are two options.”

Read more of Termeer’s comments on the Boston Business Journal.