Genzyme Pharmaceuticals and Pharmidex form Collaboration to Help Improve Treatments for Central Nervous System Disorders

Date: March 28, 2006

Genzyme Pharmaceuticals, a business unit of Genzyme Corp., and Pharmidex Pharmaceutical Services of London today announced a new collaboration designed to help improve the development of drug candidates that target the central nervous system (CNS).

Combining drug delivery technology from Genzyme Pharmaceuticals and the specialized CNS expertise of Pharmidex, the companies today launched CERENSE^SM, a product development platform designed to substantially improve the development success of CNS medicines that normally exhibit poor permeation of the barrier that exists between the blood and brain (the BBB), and open potential new avenues for CNS medicines research. The collaboration was announced at the CNS Diseases Congress today in Boston.

"We are delighted to work with Pharmidex to create a platform that we believe will have a meaningful impact on the creation of new drugs for central nervous system disorders,” said Dan Hayden, Senior Vice President and General Manager of Genzyme Pharmaceuticals. “CERENSE^SM has real potential to reduce the cost, time to market, and risk inherent in developing products for the central nervous system.”

”The World Health Organization has indicated that CNS disorders are the major medical challenge of the 21^st Century” said Alan Palmer, Chief Executive of Pharmidex, “yet treatments for most CNS disorders are either inadequate or absent. CNS is the most challenging frontier for drug discovery largely because of the complexity of the brain and the existence of the BBB. CERENSE^SM will greatly help the development and provision of new, safe and effective medicines for CNS disorders such as Alzheimer’s disease and Parkinson’s disease.”

CERENSE^SM incorporates Genzyme Pharmaceuticals’ LipoBridge™ technology for delivery of drug candidates into the central nervous system with customized in vitro, ex vivo and in vivo assessments of BBB permeation from Pharmidex, which provide measurements of the ingress, distribution and pharmacokinetics of lead compounds in the brain. CERENSE^SM can take a non-or poorly-penetrant lead compound and establish a comprehensive set of data to demonstrate that it gets into the brain where it is able to interact with its molecular target and produce the desired therapeutic benefit.

About Pharmidex

Headquartered in London, Pharmidex focuses on the prediction and assessment of the ability of potential new medicines to cross the permeability barrier between blood and brain – the blood-brain barrier (BBB). As world-leaders in the provision of solutions in relation to drug discovery and the BBB, their offering adds value by both accelerating time to market and improving the probability of success of potential CNS medicines. Pharmidex has clients worldwide and in 2005 was awarded the prestigious ‘Service Company of the Year’ by UK Trade and Investment.

For further information see: www.pharmidex.com

About Genzyme Pharmaceuticals

Genzyme Pharmaceuticals works with pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies in the development and manufacture of specialty pharmaceutical and chemical drug materials. Its technologies, products and services are focused particularly on the lipid, peptide, amino acid derivative and drug delivery markets. Genzyme Pharmaceuticals recently introduced two new drug delivery technologies to add further value to customers' pharmaceutical products. In addition to LipoBridge, this includes LipoMask that increases circulation and reduces degradation of lipid particles in blood.

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. This year marks the 25^th anniversary of Genzyme’s founding. Since 1981, the company has grown from a small start-up to a diversified enterprise with more than 8,000 employees in locations spanning the globe and 2005 revenues of $2.7 billion. Genzyme has been selected by FORTUNE as one of the “100 Best Companies to Work for” in the United States.

With many established products and services helping patients in more than 80 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 diseases, and diagnostic testing. Genzyme's commitment to innovation continues today with a substantial development program focused on these fields, as well as heart disease and other areas of unmet medical need.

For further information see www.genzyme.com

This press release contains forward-looking statements, including without limitation statements about the anticipated benefits of Cerense^SM and its potential use for CNS drug development. 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: Genzyme’s ability to market and sell Cerense ^SM to companies with CNS drug candidates; the actual results of studies using Cerense ^SM and the analysis of such study data; and the risks and uncertainties described in reports filed by Genzyme with the Securities and Exchange Commission under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, including without limitation the information under the heading "Factors Affecting Future Operating Results" in the Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations section of the Genzyme Annual Report on Form 10-K for the period ended December 31, 2005. 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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