Bluebird bio is to launch a $150m public offering of shares in a bid to finance its troubled gene therapy business, but even if this fundraising is successful, many analysts remain doubtful about the company’s long-term viability.
Funding Infusion Won't Cure Bluebird Of Its Problems
The company is hoping its gene therapies can achieve lift-off in 2024, but analysts think weak demand and strong competition from Vertex could prove fatal for Bluebird.

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The firm has lofty ambitions for the aldosterone synthase inhibitor to treat hypertension and kidney disease.
Supply chain disruption fears at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic caused drug over-ordering. Imminent tariffs on drugs may have had a similar effect on pharma sales in Q1 earnings season.
Stock prices plummeted, particularly for vaccine makers and cell and gene therapy developers, after the US FDA’s top biologics overseer resigned over vaccine misinformation concerns.
Seeking cell therapy approaches to cure type 1 diabetes, Vertex abandons a candidate encapsulated to avoid immune system detection but hopes to file another candidate for approval in 2026.
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Seeking cell therapy approaches to cure type 1 diabetes, Vertex abandons a candidate encapsulated to avoid immune system detection but hopes to file another candidate for approval in 2026.
The four-year-old firm said it plans to advance programs toward the clinic from the funding round, which comes just over a year after signing two major pharma partnerships.
A Phase III trial testing the cortisol modulator showed a benefit on PFS and OS in patients with platinum-resistant ovarian cancer.