Genzyme Arthritis Treament Approval Delayed

Genzyme (NASDAQ: [[ticker:GENZ]]) announced today that approval of its knee osteoarthritis treatment Synvisc-One will be delayed until the second half of next year, or later, because the FDA has requested more data on the treatment. Synvisc-One combines three doses of an already approved treatment, Synvisc, into a single injection.

The news marks a second recent disappointment for Cambridge, MA-based Genzyme’s osteoarthritis program: in July another of its treatments, called hylastan, failed to meet efficacy targets in clinical trials. At the time, the company said it was abandoning development of hylastan to focus on Synvisc-One.

Author: Rebecca Zacks

Rebecca is Xconomy's co-founder. She was previously the managing editor of Physician's First Watch, a daily e-newsletter from the publishers of New England Journal of Medicine. Before helping launch First Watch, she spent a decade covering innovation for Technology Review, Scientific American, and Discover Magazine's TV show. In 2005-2006 she was a Knight Science Journalism Fellow at MIT. Rebecca holds a bachelor's degree in biology from Brown University and a master's in science journalism from Boston University. View all posts by Rebecca Zacks