segunda-feira, 30 de agosto de 2010

Genzyme rejects Sanofi again

CAMBRIDGE, Mass., Aug. 30 (UPI) -- Massachusetts biotechnology firm Genzyme Corp. said Monday it had rejected a second offer from Sanofi-Aventis to buy the company for $69 per share.

In a letter to Sanofi, Henri Termeer, Genzyme's chairman and chief executive officer, said the latest offer "is identical to last month's … and therefore fails to establish a basis for engagement by the Genzyme board".

Termeer said the latest rejection "should come as no surprise," given the first offer was turned down unanimously by the Genzyme board.

The letter further said Sanofi's "opportunistic takeover proposal does not begin to recognize the significant progress under way to rectify our manufacturing challenges or the potential for our new-product pipeline".

Genzyme was hit with a regulatory fine of $175 million this year for quality control problems and suffered production delays at a plant in Allston, Mass., that the company said started with a power outage that caused its water purification system to fail. UPI