Genzyme Corp. plans to sell 200,000 of the shares it holds in Abiomed Inc. (Nasdaq: ABMD), according to a regulatory document Genzyme filed on Wednesday - a stake worth $3.8 million at Abiomed’s Wednesday closing price.
Abiomed, a Danvers, Mass.-based medical device maker, has been on an impressive run in 2011 - nearly doubling its stock value since Jan. 1. Yesterday, the company closed at $18.91 a share. Shares climbed 6 percent in the past week alone, after Abiomed last week announced fourth-quarter revenue up 24 percent, and a narrowing loss, on the strength of sales of its Impella heart pump.
Genzyme CEO and President Henri Termeer is on Abiomed’s board of directors. As of last fall, Termeer held 2 million shares in the company, according to a regulatory filing.
According to the website Mass Device, Genzyme has been paring its ownership of Abiomed since November, 2009. Between November, 2009 and November, 2010, the company sold 277,000 shares of Abiomed, Mass Device reported last fall.
