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
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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.
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Lyfgenia benefits from the treatment centers already established for bluebird’s beta-thalassemia gene therapy Zynteglo and payer strategies in place for that product
The company said when it won FDA approval for its beta-thalassemia gene therapy Zynteglo (betibeglogene autotemcel) in August 2022 that the product’s launch would lay the commercial groundwork for its other gene therapies, particularly for its sickle cell disease program. (Also see "Bluebird’s Zynteglo Approval Kicks Off Commercial Operations" - Scrip, 18 August, 2022.) And, so far, it seems that bluebird’s strategy is playing out as planned, since the company revealed at the J.P
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