Genzyme Corp.’s Synvisc drug, a treatment for pain caused by osteoarthritis of the knee, will maintain a separate reimbursement code and rate for 2007, effectively reversing a decision made by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services earlier this year.
The decision, made in the fall, would have placed all viscosupplement products into the same reimbursement code for billing in 2007. By maintaining a separate reimbursement code, the Medicare payment rate for Synvisc will continue to be 106 percent of the drug’s average selling price.
Said Genzyme chairman and CEO, Henri Termeer: “(This decision) is significant because it continues to encourage innovation in the field with next-generation products that are intended to reduce the burden of treatment and overall cost of therapy.”
Genzyme has operations in Framingham and Westboro.
