Sanofi Target Genzyme’s CEO Touts Campath MS Promise

Genzyme Corp., the target of a hostile takeover by Paris-based Sanofi-Aventis SA, is spending more than $2 million a week to develop alemtuzumab for multiple sclerosis, Chief Executive Officer Henri Termeer said today.

Currently approved as a therapy for blood cancer and sold under the name Campath, alemtuzumab produced revenue of less than $150 million last year, according to Cambridge, Massachusetts-based Genzyme. The company predicts sales of $3 billion to $3.5 billion by 2017 with an added use in multiple sclerosis, and expects to see the first results in six months from the final stage of clinical trials. Mark Schoenebaum, an analyst with ISI Group Inc. in New York, estimates peak sales of $2.3 billion.