By Jason Douglas
Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES
LONDON -(Dow Jones)- U.K. drug maker Shire PLC (SHP.LN) said Friday it now has patients in the U.S. taking velaglucerase alfa.
Shire said it currently has the manufacturing capacity to provide between 300 and 600 U.S. Gaucher disease patients with the drug, known as vela.
Shire Chief Executive Officer Angus Russell didn't give a precise figure for how many patients were now using vela. But he confirmed patients are being treated with it and more are switching to vela "every single day".
About 4,000 patients have been affected by a shortage of Cerezyme, the only other U.S.-approved drug for Gaucher disease. The shortage was caused by a shutdown at a production facility because of contamination. Cerezyme is made by Genzyme Corp. (GENZ).
Russell said Shire expects to be able to supply several hundred more patients with vela in 2010.
Genzyme earlier said it reckoned some 100 patients had switched, according to a recent research note by Collins Stewart.
Russell added Shire wouldn't have similar production issues with Replagal, a Shire drug for Fabry disease that's also been affected by Genzyme's production issues. That drug is on sale in Europe, and Shire has the capacity to supply all patients in the U.S. if necessary, he said.
Company Web site: www.shire.com
-By Jason Douglas, Dow Jones Newswires; 44-20-7842-9272; jason.douglas@dowjones.com