The proposed acquisition by global investment firms Carlyle and SK Capital Partners could net shareholders $3 per share plus potential CVR dollars and provide bluebird bio with primary capital to expand the commercial reach of its gene therapies.
After months of holding a tenuous grip on financial solvency, bluebird bio has found a solution. Friday, the gene therapy–focused biotech announced it will go private in an acquisition by global investment firms Carlyle and SK Capital Partners.
The transaction—which will see bluebird shareholders receive $3.00 per share in cash and a contingent value right (CVR) equaling $6.84 per share if the company’s current product portfolio achieves $600 million in net sales in any 12-month period prior to Dec. 31, 2027—comes as bluebird was just about to run out of money. The deal values the company at roughly $30 million.
David Meek, the former chief executive of Mirati Therapeutics, will take over as CEO of bluebird. He said in the statement that the new team is “committed to unlocking [the company’s] full potential for patients.”
Investors did not react favorably to the deal, however, as bluebird’s stock lost 33% of its value as the markets opened Friday, falling to $4.65.
It’s been a difficult stretch for bluebird, whose cash position has been in freefall the past few years—plummeting from a high of just over $1 billion in the first quarter of 2021 to $118.7 million in Q3 2024.
Bluebird expected the latter amount to see the company into the first quarter of this year. Executives on a Q3 2024 earnings call in November told investors they expected to eke out cash break even in the second half of 2025—though it was unclear at the time exactly how the company would make it to that point.
Bluebird had been counting on an increased number of patient starts for its gene therapy portfolio—including Lyfgenia, Zynteglo and Skysona. Executives in November said the company had doubled treatment starts for these products.
“This trajectory continues to support the potential path to cash flow breakeven in the second half of 2025 as those starts convert to deliveries and infusions,” Tom Klima, chief commercial & operating officer, said in November.
But William Blair analysts at the time expressed concern that bluebird would miss its patient start guidelines in the fourth quarter.
Ultimately, after a “comprehensive review of bluebird’s strategic alternatives,” the company’s board of directors determined that the deal with Carlyle and SK Capital Partners “is the only viable solution to generate value for stockholders,” according to Friday’s news release.
The strategic review included meeting with more than 70 potential investors in the past five months and making a third failed appeal for a priority review voucher, bluebird revealed Friday.
“For more than a decade, bluebird has been at the forefront of gene therapy,” CEO Andrew Obenshain said in a statement. “However, as our financial challenges mounted, it became clear that securing the right strategic partner was critical to maximizing value for our stockholders and ensuring the long-term future of our therapies.”
In December 2023, the FDA approved bluebird’s Lyfgenia for sickle cell disease. The greenlight was somewhat overshadowed at the time by the concurrent FDA approval of Vertex Pharmaceuticals and CRISPR Therapeutics’ Casgevy as the first-ever CRISPR-based gene editing therapy, for the same disease.
Bluebird also markets Zynteglo, a one-time gene therapy for beta-thalassemia, and Skysona, a one-time treatment for cerebral adrenoleukodystrophy (CALD). As part of the deal, Carlyle and SK Capital Partners will provide bluebird with primary capital to expand the commercial reach of these therapies, according to Seeking Alpha.
The acquisition is expected to close during the first half of 2025 and will transition bluebird to a privately held company.
