08/31/98 GENZYME: ITS CARTILAGE-REPAIR PRODUCT IS IN USE (int'l edition)

GENZYME: ITS CARTILAGE-REPAIR PRODUCT IS IN USE (int'l edition)

A table accompanying the article ''Biotech Bodies'' (Cover Story, July 27) reports incorrectly that we are ''developing bio-engineered cartilage.'' In fact, our cartilage repair product, Carticel, is approved by the Food & Drug Administration and has been on the market since 1995. During the past three years, it has been used to treat over 1,500 patients in the U.S. and Europe, generating over $15 million in revenues.
The story incorrectly states that Carticel can be used to repair only ''small rents'' in a patient's knee cartilage. In fact, the average size of the cartilage defects in patients treated with Carticel two years ago was 4.4 square cm--about the size of a quarter. A defect of this size would equal 20% to 30% of the affected joint surface. This product has been used routinely to treat defects twice as large.
Timothy R. Surgenor, President
Genzyme Corp.
Cambridge, Mass.