Our social responsibility
We view our most important social responsibility as developing safe and innovative products that make a meaningful
difference for patients and then ensuring that patients have access to them. Ensuring access encompasses many things
— providing products through humanitarian and other means, working consistently with governments and private
insurers to recognize their value, and helping build sustainable health-care systems.
In 2004, we extended the Gaucher Initiative, our partnership with the respected humanitarian organization Project
HOPE, to bring Cerezyme therapy to Gaucher disease patients around the world for another five years. Since the
inception of this novel partnership in 1999, more than 200 patients worldwide have received treatment with Cerezyme
regardless of their access to reimbursement from insurance providers or government authorities. In countries where
Project HOPE does not operate, Genzyme has several alternative programs to provide access to Cerezyme. We currently
sponsor similar programs for patients with Fabry disease, MPS I, and Pompe disease, treating more than 500 patients
around the world.
We also have programs for our other products through disease foundations, including our work with the American Kidney
Fund and Renagel. In 2004, we launched the innovative new Renagel REACH Program, through which Medicare beneficiaries
are eligible to receive Renagel for either $5 or $25 a month, depending upon income.
Setting the pace in science education
Building on our long-established tradition of developing and supporting science education programs in Massachusetts,
Genzyme has expanded this leadership nationally and internationally. We believe that the significance of these
efforts cannot be overestimated, especially in supporting teachers and school science programs. They help us give
back to the communities where we have operations and to develop the workforce of the future, but they also play an
even more vital role by providing students and their families with an understanding of science and biotechnology.
Because of the importance of science literacy in making informed decisions about public policy, bringing the
discussion of science to the kitchen table is a critical aspect of our social responsibility.
Our science education initiatives include teacher development, afterschool programs, scholarships and internships,
and general literacy. Among current highlights of these initiatives are a high school science award through the Massachusetts
State Science Fair; a workforce development program that runs from middle school through high school in Haverhill, United Kingdom;
life skills and science career training in Waterford, Ireland; and varied programs in Geel, Belgium, two of which are in
partnership with Technopolis, the nation's major science museum.
We also collaborate with others in our industry on science education task forces. In 2004, we introduced the first
Biotech Institute National Teacher-Leader Award with a five-year, $337,500 commitment to the nation's leading
teachers in biotechnology. Since late 2003, Genzyme has worked with the MassBioEd Foundation to develop its BioTeach
program which has the goal of outfitting every high school in Massachusetts with biotechnology laboratory equipment
and supplies, teacher training and certification, and workforce development activities.
Environmental leadership
We also contribute to our communities by taking an environmentally responsible approach to manufacturing and to the
design and construction of facilities. Genzyme measures the performance of all its facilities against its global
standard for such performance indicators as water and energy use, air emissions, solid waste reduction and recycling,
and regulatory compliance. We strive to be a good citizen in developing new facilities around the world.
