GENZYME SEEKING $18-$20 MIL. TO FUND TRANSGENIC ANIMAL RESEARCH via its Genzyme Transgenics Corporation spin-off. In a May 14 filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Genzyme Transgenics registered 2 mil. shares for an initial public offering. Assuming an IPO price of $10 per share, Genzyme Transgenics' proceeds would be $17.7 mil. or $20.5 mil. if a 300,000 share overallotment is exercised. The firm estimates that proceeds will fund operations through 1995. Genzyme would retain 67% ownership of the spin-off after the offering With the proposed spin-off, Genzyme is continuing to pursue its strategy o using outside funding sources to finance specific research efforts. Over a year ago, the company formed Neozyme II to fund cystic fibrosis research ("The Pink Sheet" March 30, 1992, T&G-9). Genzyme acquired a transgenic animal research program when it merged with the genetics testing firm Integrated Genetics in 1989. The company publicly has speculated that the production of therapeutic proteins in the milk of animals could reduce biotechnology manufacturing costs by a factor of 100 or more ("The Pink Sheet" Nov. 19, 1990, T&G-7). "Genzyme Transgenics is applying its transgenic technology to proteins which, whether due to high unit-dosage requirements, frequency of administration or large patient populations, are needed in high volume, and to complex proteins that cannot currently be produced in commercially viable quantities using traditional cell culture methods," the company said in the prospectus. "Discussions are under way with a number of pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies which have proteins in development that the company believes may be particularly appropriate for transgenic production," the prospectus says. The company "also intends to produce non-proprietary or off-patent proteins for its own account." The company's most advanced research project appears to involve the protei antithrombin III. Through a joint venture with Sumitomo Metal Industries, Genzyme Transgenics is developing AT- III "under a license from a European pharmaceutical company," the prospectus states. "Currently available [AT-III] products are... expensive to produce and in limited supply. To date, mammalian cell culture does not appear to be an economically viable production system for recombinant AT-III." Genzyme Transgenics "has achieved expression levels of AT-III in the milk of transgenic mice at concentrations of more than one gram per liter," the prospectus states. Other areas of research for Genzyme Transgenics include: cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR) on behalf of Neozyme II; human serum albumin; and "feasibility studies" on the production of oral tolerizers and monoclonal antibodies on behalf of unnamed partners. The company is also working on transgenic goats to express LA-tPA a modified tissue plasminogen activator that Genzyme is developing "for potential non-thrombolytic applications," the prospectus states. Genzyme Transgenics was separately incorporated in February 1993. It has 12 employees, headed by CEO James Geraghty. He joined Genzyme from Baxter in September 1992 as VP-corporate development. Genzyme Chairman Henri Termeer is also chairman o Genzyme Transgenics.
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