Bluebird signs pact with insurer for sickle cell gene therapy

Crispr Therapeutics AG

14/12/2023 16:46

By Sriparna  Roy and Leroy  Leo
       Dec 14 (Reuters) - Bluebird bio  BLUE.O  said on
Thursday a large insurer had agreed to cover its newly approved
sickle cell disease gene therapy, easing some investor worries
about resistance from other payers over the high price of the
treatment. 
    Bluebird's treatment, Lyfgenia, was approved along with
another gene therapy Casgevy from partners Vertex
Pharmaceuticals  VRTX.O  and CRISPR Therapeutics  CRSP.BN .
    Bluebird's price of $3.1 million is nearly $1 million higher
than its rival, despite Lyfgenia having a serious safety warning
about blood cancer risk. That had raised concerns over whether
it would get enough coverage from insurers versus its rival. 
    "We believe their ability to rapidly reach an agreement with
a major commercial payer should help to start to quell any
concerns that the high price of Lyfgenia would restrict access,"
Baird analyst Jack Allen said.
    The company reached an agreement with an insurer covering
about 100 million people in United States and is also in
advanced talks with many large insurers and Medicaid agencies.  
    Shares of bluebird were up 15% at $3.49 in morning trade.
    However, concerns remain over the company's ability to
finance operations. 
    Bluebird's shares have fallen about 50% so far this year, on
track to fall for the sixth consecutive year in a row, making it
difficult for the drugmaker to raise equity, said RBC Capital
Markets analyst Luca Issi.
    Adding to its woes, Bluebird had said on Friday it had not
received an expected voucher from the U.S. drugs regulator after
approval. It had preemptively sold rights to the voucher for
$103 million in October.
    Bluebird's cash reserves are insufficient to run operations
beyond June and it flagged 'going concern' doubts last month. 
    Some analysts have said the company would need to explore
options such as a sale to launch the therapies. 
    "They need to take money however they can, or sell the
entire company instead," Wedbush analyst David Nierengarten told
Reuters this week.
    

 (Reporting by Sriparna Roy and Leroy Leo in Bengaluru; Editing
by Krishna Chandra Eluri)
 ((Sriparna.Roy@thomsonreuters.com;))