UPDATE 1-Genzyme changes compensation plan for top execs

* Plan designed to align pay with performance

* Plan comes amid shareholder discontent

* Shares rise 0.44 percent in premarket trading

BOSTON, Jan. 28 (Reuters) - Biotechnology company Genzyme Corp GENZ.O said on Thursday it has adopted new compensation plans for senior executives aligning incentive payments more closely with company performance.

The changes come amid shareholder dissatisfaction with the company's management following a plant shutdown that lead to shortages of two of its life-saving drugs.

Under the previous incentive plan, senior executives received annual bonuses based on a single metric: operating income. The new plan includes revenue and cash flow return on invested capital.

An additional metric, divisional operating income, will be applied to leaders of the company's business units.

Together, the corporate performance metrics will determine 80 percent of any pay award, with individual senior executive performances determining 20 percent, the company said.

About half of the award will consist of a stock and cash grant vesting after three years, but only if the company meets pre-approved financial metrics, Genzyme said.

For the 2010-2012 performance period, the metrics are: total shareholder return measured against the performance of 28 companies in the S&P Health Care Index, and cash flow return on invested capital.

The remainder of an award will be comprised of stock options.

The previous incentive plan included equity grants that were vested solely based on elapsed time, and did not include performance metrics.

Genzyme shares rose to $54.44 in premarket trading from a close of $54.20 on Nasdaq on Wednesday. (Reporting by Toni Clarke; editing by John Wallace)