Technological Landscapes
Technological Landscapes: The Healing Power of Enzyme Replacement Therapy
Lexington-based Shire Human Genetic Therapies (HGT) is a business unit of Shire plc, a global company dedicated to the research, development and commercialization of novel therapies to treat life-threatening genetic diseases.
It takes a global pharmaceutical company with extensive resources to produce drugs that can alleviate suffering due to unheralded diseases. This is the challenge that Shire plc has chosen for their mission and the Lexington-based Shire’s Human Genetic Therapies (HGT) business unit exemplifies this effort. The business unit focuses on the research, development and marketing of “novel products and services that profoundly enhance the quality of life of patients suffering from rare diseases”. Rare diseases afflict thousands rather than millions of people world-wide. In the United States, medication to alleviate such diseases are often termed orphan drugs and are subject to the Orphan Drug Act of 1983. This Act is designed to encourage …
