Oppenheimer Rates Genzyme (GENZ) Perform

Oppenheimer & Co. analysts Brian Abrahams, Bret Holley, Anupam Rama and Ryan Tochihara maintained their Perform rating for shares of Genzyme Corporation

. The analysts said that Genzyme Corporation released the terms of a consent decree with the FDA that was inline with an earlier draft outline that the company provided. The analysts also said that shares of Genzyme Corporation reflect some of the company's risks and that if other pending matters are resolved the stock's upside potential could be released. The Oppenheimer & Co. analysts wrote, "we believe Genzyme shares are fairly valued at current levels, given the long-term threats to its key franchises. Key competitors to Cerezyme will likely enter the market mid-2010, potentially eroding market share in select regions. In addition, we believe the Renagel/Renvela franchise has near-term risk if phosphate binders are included in Medicare bundling, and long-term risk with the 2014 patent expiry. Finally, although the new Myozyme filing strategy bypasses the manufacturing issues, it remains uncertain whether the FDA will approve 4,000L based on comparability data. Despite our view that GENZ is fairly valued on fundamentals, we recognize that given the general negative sentiment, any positive news—progress with manufacturing, approval of Myozyme 4,000L, fewer Gaucher patients switching to new ERTs—would likely lead to upside in 2010.