Bluebird Bio, once a biotech giant with a market cap of $9 billion, has agreed to sell itself to private equity firms Carlyle and SK Capital for a mere $30 million. Shareholders will receive $3 per share, with the potential for an additional $6.84 if sales hit $600 million in any 12-month period by 2027. The company’s shares plummeted 40% after the announcement, closing at $7.04 the previous day. Bluebird’s journey began over thirty years ago, focusing on one-time gene therapies for genetic diseases. However, setbacks including a cancer scare in 2018 and pricing issues in Europe led to its financial struggles. Despite recent FDA approvals for treatments like Zynteglo, Lyfgenia, and Skysona, Bluebird couldn’t overcome its financial challenges, spending hundreds of millions annually. The sale marks a significant downturn from its peak, highlighting the broader industry’s struggle to turn gene therapy promises into profitable ventures.
To provide the best experiences, we use technologies like cookies to store and/or access device information. Consenting to these technologies will allow us to process data such as browsing behavior or unique IDs on this site. Not consenting or withdrawing consent, may adversely affect certain features and functions.
Functional
Always active
The technical storage or access is strictly necessary for the legitimate purpose of enabling the use of a specific service explicitly requested by the subscriber or user, or for the sole purpose of carrying out the transmission of a communication over an electronic communications network.
Preferences
The technical storage or access is necessary for the legitimate purpose of storing preferences that are not requested by the subscriber or user.
Statistics
The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for statistical purposes.The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for anonymous statistical purposes. Without a subpoena, voluntary compliance on the part of your Internet Service Provider, or additional records from a third party, information stored or retrieved for this purpose alone cannot usually be used to identify you.
Marketing
The technical storage or access is required to create user profiles to send advertising, or to track the user on a website or across several websites for similar marketing purposes.
