Genzyme Completes Sale of Pharmaceuticals Business to International Chemical Investors Group

Genzyme Corporation (Nasdaq: GENZ) today announced that it has completed the sale of its pharmaceutical intermediates business to International Chemical Investors Group (ICIG).

ICIG purchased substantially all of the pharmaceutical intermediates business, excluding the drug delivery technologies portion. The acquired business has been renamed Corden Pharma Switzerland LLC and will operate as part of ICIG’s pharmaceutical business within the Corden Pharma group platform of companies. Financial terms are not material to Genzyme and were not disclosed.

The approximately 120 employees of the pharmaceutical intermediates business will remain employed with Corden Pharma, which plans to maintain operations at the business’s primary location, a manufacturing facility in Liestal, Switzerland. The company will also maintain a U.S. sales and marketing office in Boston.

As part of the agreement, Corden Pharma entered into a supply contract to provide Genzyme with materials needed for the production of eliglustat tartrate, an investigational treatment for Gaucher disease type 1 that is currently in phase 3 clinical trials. ICIG will also supply materials needed for the manufacture of other treatments, including neo-GAA, currently in preclinical development as a potential next-generation Pompe disease therapy.

With this sale, Genzyme has completed the three divestitures announced last year as part of its effort to sharpen its focus on core businesses. In January the company completed the sale of its diagnostic products business, and in December it completed the sale of its genetic testing business.

About Genzyme

One of the world's leading biotechnology companies, Genzyme is dedicated to making a major positive impact on the lives of people with serious diseases. Since 1981, the company has grown from a small start-up to a diversified enterprise with approximately 10,000 employees in locations spanning the globe. Genzyme last month announced an agreement to be acquired by sanofi-aventis, and the transaction is expected to close early in the second quarter of this year.

With many established products and services helping patients in 100 countries, Genzyme is a leader in the effort to develop and apply the most advanced technologies in the life sciences. The company's products and services are focused on rare inherited disorders, kidney disease, orthopaedics, cancer, transplant, and immune disease. Genzyme's commitment to innovation continues today with a substantial development program focused on these fields, as well as cardiovascular disease, neurodegenerative diseases, and other areas of unmet medical need.

Genzyme’s press releases and other company information are available at www.genzyme.com and by calling Genzyme’s investor information line at 1-800-905-4369 within the United States or 1-678-999-4572 outside the United States.

About International Chemical Investors Group and Corden Pharma

International Chemical Investors Group is a privately owned industrial holding company focusing on mid-sized chemicals and pharmaceutical businesses. Since inception in 2004, ICIG has acquired 15 businesses, all of which have origins in major global chemical or pharmaceutical corporations and are independently managed. ICIG companies currently employ more than 3,000 people and operate 15 manufacturing facilities in Europe and the United States.

Corden Pharma group is the pharmaceutical market platform of ICIG, its companies offer contract development and contract manufacturing activities of advanced pharmaceutical intermediates, APIs and Drug Product formulations. Approximately 1,500 people support their customers with specialized technologies in all international markets.

Important Information

Genzyme has filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission a Solicitation/Recommendation Statement on Schedule 14D-9 relating to the tender offer by Sanofi-Aventis. Genzyme shareholders are advised to read the company's Solicitation/Recommendation Statement on Schedule 14D-9 because it contains important information. Shareholders may obtain a free copy of the Solicitation/Recommendation Statement on Schedule 14D-9, as well as any other documents filed by Genzyme in connection with the tender offer, free of charge at the SEC's website at http://www.sec.gov. In addition, investors can obtain free copies of these documents from Genzyme by directing a request to Genzyme at 500 Kendall Street, Cambridge, MA 02142, Attention: Shareholder Relations Department, or by calling 617-252-7500 and asking for the Shareholder Relations Department.

This press release contains forward-looking statements regarding ICIG’s business plans, including the statements regarding the continued operation of Genzyme Pharmaceuticals as part of ICIG’s Corden Pharma group of companies; maintenance of a Corden Pharma Switzerland LLC manufacturing facility in Liestal, Switzerland and maintenance of commercial operations in the Boston, MA area; and the ability of Corden Pharma Switzerland LLC to supply products to Genzyme under the proposed supply agreement. These statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected in these forward-looking statements. These risks and uncertainties include, among others, the continued economic effectiveness of maintaining the current Genzyme pharmaceuticals business in its current locations, the ability of Corden Pharma to source critical raw materials and to operate manufacturing operations in a manner that successfully fulfills Genzyme’s requirements under the supply agreement, and the risks and uncertainties described in Genzyme's SEC reports filed under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, including the factors discussed under the caption "Risk Factors" in Genzyme's Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the period ended September 30, 2010. Genzyme cautions investors not to place undue reliance on the forward-looking statements contained in this press release. These statements speak only as of the date of this press release, and Genzyme undertakes no obligation to update or revise these statements.

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