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Bluebird’s Fast Lyfgenia Launch Was A Year And A Half In The Making

Zynteglo Build Gives Firm A Leg Up In Sickle Cell Disease

 
• By Mandy Jackson

The company said when Zynteglo was approved for beta-thalassemia that its launch would lay the groundwork for its sickle cell gene therapy Lyfgenia, and the strategy is paying off so far with a fast ramp-up.

DNA helix 3D illustration. Mutations under microscope. Decoding genome.
Bluebird's sickle cell gene therapy Lyfgenia launched in January • Source: Shutterstock

Bluebird bio inc.’s sickle cell disease gene therapy Lyfgenia (lovotibeglogene autotemcel) won US Food and Drug Administration approval on the same day in December as Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated/CRISPR Therapeutics AG’s competing gene-editing medicine Casgevy (exagamglogene autotemcel), but as of the J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference a month later bluebird’s product is in the lead in terms of qualified treatment centers (QTCs) ready to administer the drug and the number of patient lives covered by payers that have agreed to reimburse Lyfgenia’s multimillion-dollar cost.

Key Takeaways

  • Bluebird’s Lyfgenia launch to date has resulted in 35 qualified treatment centers ready to administer the sickle cell gene therapy in the US versus nine centers ready to administer Vertex/CRISPR’s gene-editing medicine.

The company said when it won FDA approval for its beta-thalassemia gene therapy Zynteglo (betibeglogene autotemcel) in August 2022 that...

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