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To: Paul Senior who wrote (35928)	11/13/2009 3:36:29 PM
From: Spekulatius	Respond to of 78697

GENZ, a blast from the past. I owned this one several times in the 90's and around 200-2001. They do have a franchise with their Cerezyme drugs. This manufacturing problem is not the first, they had a production lot contaminated with a virus a while ago as far as I remember and had to shut the whole facility down to get the mess cleaned up. Apparently the cleaning up part did not went too well <ng>. I think they also put a new guy in charge of manufacturing but he may not have had time to turn things around. While their drugs are unique in that they help a small group of people with hereditary diseases they are also incredible expensive (100k+/year and treatment) and charging several times in the US what they charge in other countries for the same drug, that they would be an easy (and rightly so, imo) target of a health care reform.

To: Paul Senior who wrote (35928)	11/13/2009 5:09:01 PM
From: Madharry	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 78697

this is a $13 billion market cap and the problem as according to the article affects 1% of their products. The only way this is a big deal is if this turns out to be the tip of the iceberg which sometimes turns out to be the case. Then of course there are the potential lawsuits. so now i wonder if there is a pr release , the fda leaves the product on the market and somebody ends up dead is the company responsible? any of you lawyers out there know? OT BPZ a loser for me lately has turned technically positive. Im hoping for good things in the coming weeks. Im still overly long right now. microsoft still looks good. I dont know when the post thanksgiving day retail numbers start coming out but my guess is that the market will be pretty flat til then. I know in my area the outlet mall is opening on midnight after thanksgiving and has arranged for addional parking space outside the mall for the crowds and are planning to run shuttles. thankfully I will be out of town for this event.

To: Paul Senior who wrote (35928)	5/12/2010 7:29:51 PM
From: Paul Senior	Respond to of 78697

Drug companies. GENZ. Management apparently now being investigated for insider trading based on insiders' knowledge of poor product quality. Have held this stock for maybe four months with some expectations that there would be positive news forthcoming, not negative news. Too much for me; I'm out at break-even. Product is in demand though, so somebody with more patience and confidence and conviction than I have might profit by holding the stock. In reviewing GENZ again, I've come across a small company that is building operations to utilize plant cells instead of human cells to develop drugs. And one of the drugs it's targeting is the drug that GENZ has quality problems with and therefore of which there is a shortage. Protalix Biotherapeutics (PLX) is the company. I've taken a small position -- It's a speculation of course. About Protalix and GENZ. "Protalix is a biopharmaceutical company focused on the development and commercialization of proprietary recombinant therapeutic proteins expressed through its proprietary plant cell based expression system. Protalix's ProCellEx™ presents a proprietary method for the expression of recombinant proteins that the Company believes will allow for the industrial-scale production of recombinant therapeutic proteins in an environment free of mammalian components and viruses. Protalix is also advancing additional recombinant biopharmaceutical drug development programs. Taliglucerase alfa is an enzyme replacement therapy in development under a Special Protocol Assessment with the FDA for Gaucher disease. In August 2009, the FDA granted orphan drug status and fast track designation to taliglucerase alfa for the treatment of Gaucher disease and Protalix filed a rolling NDA submission with the FDA in December 2009. In November 2009, Protalix granted Pfizer Inc. exclusive, worldwide rights to develop and commercialize taliglucerase alfa for the treatment of Gaucher disease, except in Israel. Protalix retained the right to commercialize taliglucerase alfa in Israel." ================================================= ABT. Stock seems to be a buy somewhere here under $50. Have purchased this stock last year at lower levels and have been peeling off shares as stock has dropped this year from highs. Stubbornness on my part, I just don't want my remaining stub position to go red (purchases @$44-45 in 8/'09), so I've closed position today. As mentioned before, great company. Perhaps too dependent on best-selling drug Humira (off-patent in 2015, as far as I can tell). I intend to start re-buying if stock drops back to $44-45.