BioMarin Announces Roll-Out of National PK...( Conference Call and Webcast to Be H...)

Conference Call and Webcast to Be Held Today at 4:30 p.m. ET (21:30 CET)

NOVATO, Calif., Aug. 21 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- BioMarin Pharmaceutical Inc. (Nasdaq: BMRN) announced today the roll-out of the national PKU Demographics, Outcomes and Safety Registry (PKUDOS). The registry is open to all PKU clinics within the United States, and all patients screened for Kuvan responsiveness are eligible for enrollment in the registry. Also, from September 1, 2008 until December 31, 2008, to facilitate enrollment in the registry, new patients at clinics participating in the registry will be able to receive 45 days of free drug while individual insurance coverage is secured.

"We are excited to initiate the first PKU patient registry and believe that it will substantially strengthen the available data on a variety of PKU patient populations, including some less studied, such as children under four years of age and maternal PKU patients," said Jean-Jacques Bienaime, Chief Executive Officer of BioMarin. "Approximately half of the PKU clinics have already expressed interest in participating in the registry program.

"Moreover, at a very minimal cost to BioMarin, we will be able to bypass the current two- to eight-week processing time between BPPS referral and initiation of commercial therapy, by providing an initial supply of Kuvan at no cost to patients. This will allow physicians to test for responsiveness to Kuvan without the need to first secure insurance coverage. We have also received numerous requests to support PKU clinics planning patient information days to further stimulate interest in Kuvan screening, and we are pleased to help advance education in the PKU community," added Mr. Bienaime.

BioMarin will host a confere
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