Bioenvision Shareholders Approve Acquisition by Genzyme Corporation
October 22 2007 - 4:50PM
PR Newswire (US)
CAMBRIDGE, Mass., and NEW YORK, Oct. 22 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ --
Genzyme Corporation (NASDAQ:GENZ) and Bioenvision, Inc.
(NASDAQ:BIVN) announced this afternoon that Bioenvision
stockholders have voted to approve the acquisition of the company
by Genzyme at a reconvened special shareholder meeting in New York.
The transaction will be effective tomorrow. Bioenvision shares have
now ceased trading and the company will be delisted from Nasdaq.
Fifty-six percent of Bioenvision's issued and outstanding shares of
common stock and preferred stock, voting together as a single class
on an as converted basis, supported the merger. This represents
approximately 67 percent of the total shares voted. With its
acquisition of Bioenvision, Genzyme takes a significant step in
enhancing its existing oncology business by gaining the exclusive,
worldwide rights to clofarabine. "We are very pleased that
Bioenvision shareholders voted to support this merger," stated Mark
J. Enyedy, president of Genzyme Oncology, a business unit of
Genzyme Corporation. "We are deeply committed to furthering the
clinical development of clofarabine and making it available on a
global basis so that patients around the world with these very
difficult forms of cancer will have access to the therapy. The
successful completion of this acquisition creates the platform on
which we will continue to build an international commercial
presence for our oncology business." Genzyme acquires Bioenvision
in an all cash transaction valued at $5.60 per share, or
approximately $345 million. Christopher B. Wood, M.D., chairman and
chief executive officer of Bioenvision, said, "We are pleased to
conclude this merger process and we respect our shareholders'
participation and opinions in this regard. We are confident in
Genzyme's commitment to advance clofarabine, aided by their
established clinical, regulatory and commercial infrastructure, and
their already significant U.S. commercial experience with the
compound." Clofarabine is branded as Clolar(R) in the U.S. and
Canada, where it is marketed by Genzyme for relapsed and refractory
pediatric ALL patients. In Europe, Bioenvision and Genzyme
co-developed clofarabine and Bioenvision currently markets the
product under the brand name Evoltra(R), also for the treatment of
relapsed and refractory pediatric ALL patients. The companies have
been developing clofarabine for significantly larger indications,
including use as a first-line therapy for the treatment of adult
acute myeloid leukemia (AML). Clofarabine has been granted orphan
drug status for ALL and AML in both the United States and European
Union. 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 more than 9,500 employees in locations spanning the globe and
2006 revenues of $3.2 billion. In 2007, Genzyme was chosen to
receive the National Medal of Technology, the highest honor awarded
by the President of the United States for technological innovation.
In 2006 and 2007, Genzyme was 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 nearly 90
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 diagnostic
testing. Genzyme's commitment to innovation continues today with a
substantial development program focused on these fields, as well as
immune disease, infectious disease, and other areas of unmet
medical need. This press release contains forward-looking
statements, including statements about the closing of acquisition
of Bioenvision. 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 possibility that
the transaction is not completed; the possibility that certain
closing conditions are not met, and the other 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 "Risk Factors" in the Management's
Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of
Operations section of the Genzyme Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for
the quarter ending June 30, 2007. Genzyme cautions investors not to
place substantial 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 the statements. Genzyme(R) and
Clolar(R) are registered trademarks of Genzyme Corporation.
Evoltra(R) is a registered trademark of Bioenvision, Inc. All
rights reserved. Genzyme's press releases and other company
information are available at http://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.
CONTACTS: For Genzyme For Bioenvision Catherine E. Forte
(investors) James S. Scibetta (investors) (617) 768-6881 (212)
750-6700 Maria E. Cantor (media) Sondra S. Newman (media) (617)
768-6690 (617) 877-5687 DATASOURCE: Genzyme Corporation CONTACT:
investors, Catherine E. Forte, +1-617-768-6881, or media, Maria E.
Cantor, +1-617-768-6690, both for Genzyme Corporation, or
investors, James S. Scibetta, +1-212-750-6700, or media, Sondra S.
Newman, +1-617-877-5687, both for Bioenvision Web site:
http://www.genzyme.com/ Company News On-Call:
http://www.prnewswire.com/comp/104284.html
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