Patient Organizations

Genzyme is committed to supporting optimal care and building sustainable health systems for people worldwide living with serious, unmet medical needs. Given the urgency of these needs it is imperative that we understand and partner with the patient communities that we serve so that we are better able to achieve our common mission: to support and advocate for the needs of people affected by certain medical conditions.

Genzyme and patient organizations (PO) may work collaboratively on activities such as:

Disseminating critical disease and health care information;

Advocating for access to therapies;

Helping foster a sense of community among patients and their families.

To ensure that our relationships with patient organizations are thoughtful and transparent, we are guided by the following principles:

Genzyme will comply with local rules involving interactions with patient organizations. As a global company, Genzyme is subject to often differing laws, rules and regulations in the many places in this world in which it does business.

Genzyme will respect and assure the independence of patient organizations in their policies, decisions, and activities. The interests of patient organizations Genzyme supports should never be seen as subordinate to Genzyme’s own interests. Genzyme will neither request nor expect patient organizations to promote any Genzyme product or service.

The scope and objectives of any Genzyme collaboration with a patient organization will be open, transparent, and ethical.

Although there may be occasions when Genzyme is the sole source of support (particularly with newly-founded organizations involving rare diseases), we strongly encourage the establishment of multiple funding sources. We never require that a patient organization receive funding solely from Genzyme nor will we seek to exclude anyone, including competitors, from making contributions to these organizations.

Genzyme will not expect patient organizations to provide any personal patient or family information. Genzyme will respect the privacy of all personal information and data it may receive from patient organizations.

View a complete listing of the patient organizations that we supported in 2009 and 2008.