Genzyme Rival Gets FDA Nod

Protalix BioTherapeutics, an Israel-based biotech company, said today it has received FDA approval for a treatment protocol of its experimental drug for Gaucher’s disease, which will allow patients to get expanded access to the drug during a shortage of the leading therapy, Genzyme’s imiglucerase (Cerezyme). Shares of Protalix (AMEX: [[ticker:PLX]]) climbed 10 percent in mid-day trading on the news.

Author: Luke Timmerman

Luke is an award-winning journalist specializing in life sciences. He has served as national biotechnology editor for Xconomy and national biotechnology reporter for Bloomberg News. Luke got started covering life sciences at The Seattle Times, where he was the lead reporter on an investigation of doctors who leaked confidential information about clinical trials to investors. The story won the Scripps Howard National Journalism Award and several other national prizes. Luke holds a bachelor’s degree in journalism from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and during the 2005-2006 academic year, he was a Knight Science Journalism Fellow at MIT.