Genzyme maps big plans for R&D, manufacturing expansion

Genzyme (NASDAQ: GENZ) isn't letting a little manufacturing crisis get in the way of its ambitious long-term growth plans. The big biotech outfit has blueprinted a massive 757,000-square-foot expansion at its Framingham, MA facility, with some 400,000 square feet of new space reserved for its research operations.

The Boston Globe reports that state officials are reviewing plans for the new R&D complex along with added office and manufacturing capacity for its facility there. Henry Fitzgerald, vice president of facility operations, tells the Globe that Genzyme is planning to add 600 workers to its Framingham plant, with 1,000 added to the payrolls by the time the complete expansion is wrapped. The R&D facilities are scheduled to be built between 2015 and 2018.

The expansion plans have local officials buzzing about the prospect of getting smaller biotechs to move in, along with Genzyme's suppliers. The biotech company has run into a buzz saw of controversy over the contamination found by regulators at its Allston plant. But Genzyme CEO Henri Termeer (photo) has managed to patch up a public brawl with Wall Street raider Carl Icahn (photo) and appears ready to complete one of the longest-running records at the helm of a big cap biotech on his own terms.

- here's the article from the Boston Globe