bluebird bio
NEWS
Facing declining valuations and funding challenges, public biotechs like bluebird bio are going private to restructure, reduce regulatory burdens and refocus on long-term growth.
As FDA seeks to rehire some fired employees, Donald Trump threatens to enact tariffs on pharma companies unless they reshore manufacturing; another lawsuit hits the complex GLP-1 compounding space as Eli Lilly offers expanded Zepbound options; and struggling gene therapy biotech bluebird bio goes private in an attempt to stay solvent.
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.
GSK, Gilead and Arcellx, Vertex and more present new data at the American Society of Hematology annual meeting just as sickle cell therapies Casgevy and Lyfgenia have a new outcomes-based payment model; Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk pump new funds into manufacturing; and AbbVie makes a Cerevel comeback while uniQure clears a path toward accelerated approval in Huntington’s disease.
The payment scheme will tie gene therapy payments to improvements in health outcomes—and could potentially boost the uptake of these sickle cell disease treatments.
Novartis, Gilead, Roche and Takeda commit to new partners in a spate of mid-sized collaborations this week. Meanwhile, Applied Therapeutics’ stock tanks 80% after govorestat is denied approval, Intra-Cellular Therapies seeks to expand Caplyta into major depressive disorder and the FDA investigates the safety of bluebird bio’s Skysona.
The cancers were diagnosed 19 to 92 months after Skysona treatment.
Trump fingers Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to lead the HHS, lupus and ATTR-CM dominate headlines this week, bluebird bio has a cash gap to leap and RegenxBio eyes Sarepta in Duchenne muscular dystrophy.
Bluebird has just two quarters until it’s out of cash. Executives are looking for financing to extend that runway to a projected breakeven point before the end of 2025, with analysts worried they won’t make it.
JOBS
IN THE PRESS
bluebird bio, Inc. (Nasdaq: BLUE) today announced that O. James Sterling, has been appointed chief financial officer (CFO), effective June 10, 2024.
bluebird bio, Inc. announced that it has completed the first commercial cell collection for LYFGENIA, a one-time gene therapy for the treatment of sickle cell disease in patients with a history of vaso-occlusive events.