bluebird bio initiates restructuring; will slash workforce by 30%

Coming as no surprise given the company recently admitted it was running out of cash, US biotech firm bluebird bio (Nasdaq: BLUE) today announced that it is initiating a comprehensive restructuring intended to deliver up to $160 million in cost savings over the next two years.

Bluebird, whose shares fell 3.8% to $5.09 in early trading, intends to sharpen its focus on near-term catalysts, including anticipated Food and Drug Administration approvals for its gene therapies for beta-thalassemia and cerebral adrenoleukodystrophy in 2022, and the potential submission of a biologics license application (BLA) for lovotibeglogene autotemcel (lovo-cel) gene therapy for sickle cell disease planned in the first quarter of 2023. The company expects to maintain targeted research efforts focused on in vivo lentiviral vector (LVV) gene therapy and will deprioritize direct investments in reduced toxicity conditioning and cryopreserved apheresis.

Expected to extend cash runway into the first half of 2023