By Brady Huggett

As the confirmed human losses filter in from the Tuesday¿s terrorist attacks, Genzyme Corp., of Cambridge, Mass., reported the first in the biotechnology sector ¿ the loss of its senior vice president of government relations, Lisa Raines. Raines, 42, was a passenger on the hijacked American Airlines Flight 77 that struck the Pentagon.

Genzyme Chairman and CEO Henri Termeer said he was ¿deeply saddened¿ by her death and called Raines ¿a great friend and a brilliant colleague,¿ adding: ¿She was a tremendous advocate for this company and the biotechnology industry who worked tirelessly and effectively in Washington to ensure that the best medicines reached patients.¿

Raines had been with Genzyme since 1993. Previously, she worked for the Industrial Biotechnology Association ¿ now called the Biotechnology Industry Organization, or BIO ¿ beginning there in 1986. Initially, she worked as director of government relations and then as vice president.

Carl Feldbaum, president of BIO, called Raines ¿a person of great vitality and intelligence.¿

¿She really was a pioneer in working with Congress and the White House on behalf of the industry,¿ he said. ¿I knew her very well and worked with her very closely and we are heartbroken. This is the first casualty in the biotechnology family from terrorism. It makes a national tragedy feel quite personal.

¿Her kind of commitment can¿t be replaced,¿ he added.

Raines is survived by her husband, Stephen Push, of Great Falls, Va., a former vice president of corporate communications at Genzyme.