Pfizer Inverts Itself for Gaucher's

Taliglucerase alfa from Protalix Biotherapeutics Inc. will not be Pfizer Inc.'s first foray into Orphan diseases. But it will require the pharma to turn its commercial approach upside down, especially if it aims to dethrone Genzyme Corp.'s Cerezyme imiglucerase.

Taliglucerase is a carrot cell-expressed recombinant form of human glucocerebrosidase (GCase) that has completed Phase III testing for Gaucher's disease. While the plant-based manufacturing system could give taliglucerase a cost advantage over Cerezyme, Genzyme has had 15 years to build a formidable patient-services offering...