Privacy Policy

Genzyme Corporation (“Genzyme”) respects individual privacy and value the confidence of its customers, partners, patients and employees.

This Privacy Policy and Notice of Information Practices sets forth Genzyme’s practices regarding the collection, use and disclosure of information that you may provide through this site. Please read this entire privacy policy before using this site or submitting information to Genzyme through this site.

By using this site and whenever you submit information through this site to Genzyme, you agree with the terms of Genzyme’s Privacy Policy and Notice of Information Practices written below.

Privacy Policy and Notice of Information Practices:

Data Collection

Genzyme only collects personally identifiable data such as your name, address, telephone number or email address when you voluntarily submit it to Genzyme. This information may be used by Genzyme personnel as a means to contact you to obtain more information, to improve this site, or it might be used to provide you with information that you have requested or additional information which Genzyme believes may be of interest to you. The data will not be transferred outside the company without your prior consent, but may be used within Genzyme or by a company acting as an agent of Genzyme for processing and mailing purposes. Genzyme may also use this information within the company for performing marketing studies or for other commercial purposes for which it may receive compensation.

Genzyme maintains the data collected in an electronic database of voluntarily submitted personally identifiable information. Genzyme and its agents may exchange such information with each other or with you over the internet or intranet systems for the purposes of carrying out the services described above.

While Genzyme makes every reasonable effort to protect the information collected through its websites, please be aware that there is always some risk involved when submitting data over the Internet. We cannot guarantee that our website is 100% safe from illegal tampering or “hacking.” Any data transmitted over the Internet may be at risk; however, once it is received at Genzyme and entered into its database, it has the same protection that Genzyme extends to its own confidential information.

We track the total number of visitors to our website, the number of visitors to each page of the website, and the domain names of our visitors’ Internet service providers. No personally identifiable information is gathered in this process.

Updating Your Information

If at any time you wish to stop receiving emails or other communications from us, or if you have submitted personally identifiable information through our website and would like to have that information deleted from our records, please notify us. You may also request access to personal data about you that Genzyme holds and you may have the opportunity to request a correction or amendment to your personal data. As a reminder to you when exchanging emails, any email that you send or receive on your employer’s email system may be the property of your employer. Consequently, your employer has the ability to review your personal information sent via email.

Links to Third Party Sites

As a convenience to our visitors, our sites currently contain links to a number of other (non-Genzyme) sites that we believe may offer useful information. The privacy policy presented here does not apply to those sites. You should contact these sites directly for information on their privacy policies, confidentiality agreements and data collection/distribution procedures.

Children’s Policy

Our websites are not intended or designed to attract children under the age of 13. We do not collect personal information from any person we actually know is a child under the age of 13.

Cookies

We collect information about your usage of our site through cookies and similar technology. There are two types of cookies: session cookies (non persistent cookies) and persistent cookies. Session cookies temporarily store non-personally identifiable information about your visit to our website in your computer’s memory. The cookie is deleted as soon as you close your browser. Persistent or permanent cookies will uniquely identify your browser and will permanently save in your computer’s memory information requested by the website. A cookie does not collect or keep your name or other personal identifying information, but when you return to our site, the cookie allows us to bring you the content and features likely to be of greatest interest to you based on your previous activities on our site. Your Web browser can be set to allow you to control whether you will accept cookies, reject cookies, or to notify you each time a cookie is sent to you, If your browser is set to reject cookies, sites like ours that are cookie-enabled will not recognize you when you return to the site and some site functionality may be lost.

On some of our websites, we also use pixels, or transparent GIF files, to help manage online advertising. These GIF files are provided by our ad management partner, DoubleClick. These files enable DoubleClick to recognize a unique cookie on your Web browser, which in turn enables us to learn which advertisements bring users to our website. The cookie was placed by us, or by another advertiser who works with DoubleClick. With both cookies and Spotlight technology, the information that we collect and share is anonymous and not personally identifiable. It does not contain your name, address, telephone number, or email address. For more information about DoubleClick, including information about how to opt out of these technologies, go to http://www.doubleclick.net/us/corporate/privacy.

In Genzyme sites that require passwords, you are giving us explicit permission to use a “persistent cookie,” which is a small data file that is generated when you enter your assigned user id and password and access the site. This file is saved in you computer’s memory, and enables your browser to access each page that is in the password-protected area.

Please note that linked non-Genzyme sites may also use cookies. Genzyme cannot control the use of cookies by these non-Genzyme sites. In addition, when you link from a Genzyme website to another website, that site may have the ability to recognize that you have come from a Genzyme site. If you do not want any other websites to know that you have been on this website, we recommend that you do not use the links provided in our site.

Privacy Policy Updates

Any changes to the Genzyme Internet privacy policy will be posted on this page.

This privacy policy was last updated: 10/03/2007.

Important Safety Information

CARTICEL is for autologous use and is indicated for the repair of symptomatic, cartilage defects of the femoral condyle (medial, lateral or trochlea), caused by acute or repetitive trauma, in patients who have had an inadequate response to a prior arthroscopic or other surgical repair procedure (e.g., debridement, microfracture, drilling/abrasion arthroplasty, or osteochondral allograft/autograft). CARTICEL should only be used in conjunction with debridement, placement of a periosteal flap and rehabilitation. The independent contributions of the autologous cultured chondrocytes and other components of the therapy to outcome are unknown. It is not indicated for the treatment of cartilage damage associated with generalized osteoarthritis. It is not recommended for patients whose knee meniscus has been surgically removed unless the patient has undergone surgical reconstruction prior to or concurrent with CARTICEL implantation.

Pre-existing conditions including meniscal tears, joint instability or malalignment of the joint should be corrected prior to or concurrent with CARTICEL implantation. It should not be used in patients with a known history of hypersensitivity to gentamicin, other aminoglycosides or materials of bovine origin. CARTICEL is not routinely tested for transmissible infectious diseases and may transmit disease to the healthcare provider handling CARTICEL. In addition, it should not be used in patients who have previously had cancer in the bones, cartilage, fat or muscle of the treated limb. Use in children, patients over age 65, or in joints other than the knee has not yet been assessed.

The occurrence of subsequent surgical procedures (SSPs), primarily arthroscopy, following CARTICEL implantation is common. In the Study of the Treatment of Articular Repair (STAR), forty-nine percent (49%) of patients underwent an SSP on the treated knee, irrespective of their relationship to CARTICEL, during the 4-year follow up. The most common serious adverse events (≥5% of patients), derived from STAR, include arthrofibrosis/joint adhesions, graft overgrowth, chondromalacia or chondrosis, cartilage injury, graft complication, meniscal lesion, graft delamination, and osteoarthritis.

For more information on CARTICEL, please see the Package Insert (PDF).