CAMBRIDGE, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--bluebird bio, Inc. (Nasdaq: BLUE), a clinical-stage company committed to developing potentially transformative gene therapies for severe genetic diseases and T cell-based immunotherapies for cancer, announced that it will participate in a consortium led by Duke University’s Robert J. Margolis, MD, Center for Health Policy to develop a broadly-supported path for value-based payment reform models for gene therapies and other innovative treatments.
“bluebird bio is focused on creating gene therapy products that have a dramatic impact on the lives of patients. Understanding the potential value of these treatments across the healthcare system is not easy, but it is critical that we all work together to develop new and effective payment models that work for all stakeholders, especially patients,” said Nick Leschly, chief bluebird. “Duke-Margolis is a national leader in health policy, and this consortium will bring together key stakeholders across healthcare sectors to create pathways for value-based payment. We look forward to the consortium’s ability to not only drive engagement but also help explore more creative, forward looking, and perhaps most importantly, concrete solutions that brings value first and foremost to the patient.”
The consortium – composed of patient advocates, payers, manufacturers, and providers, as well as experts in regulatory science, law, and policy – will collaborate to outline a path forward for payment reform involving innovative therapies, including genomic medicines for rare diseases.
“Moving from payment arrangements based on volume to those based on value is not easy,” said Duke-Margolis director Mark McClellan, MD, PhD. “Our consortium members represent a wide range of perspectives but share a common goal of payment models that encourage innovation, resulting in better outcomes for patients at a sustainable cost.”
The initial phase of the project is expected to be completed in 2017. For more information, visit https://healthpolicy.duke.edu/Value-Based-Payment-Consortium.
About bluebird bio, Inc.
With its lentiviral-based gene
therapies, T cell immunotherapy expertise and gene editing capabilities,
bluebird bio has built an integrated product platform with broad
potential application to severe genetic diseases and cancer. bluebird
bio’s gene therapy clinical programs include its Lenti-D™ product
candidate, currently in a Phase 2/3 study, called the Starbeam Study,
for the treatment of cerebral adrenoleukodystrophy, and its LentiGlobin™
BB305 product candidate, currently in four clinical studies for the
treatment of transfusion-dependent β-thalassemia and severe sickle cell
disease. bluebird bio’s oncology pipeline is built upon the company’s
leadership in lentiviral gene delivery and T cell engineering, with a
focus on developing novel T cell-based immunotherapies, including
chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) and T cell receptor (TCR) therapies.
bluebird bio’s lead oncology program, bb2121, is an anti-BCMA CAR T
program partnered with Celgene. bb2121 is currently being studied in a
Phase 1 trial for the treatment of relapsed/refractory multiple myeloma.
bluebird bio also has discovery research programs utilizing
megaTAL/homing endonuclease gene editing technologies with the potential
for use across the company’s pipeline.
bluebird bio has operations in Cambridge, Massachusetts, Seattle, Washington and Europe.
Forward-Looking Statements
This release contains
“forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the Private
Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including statements regarding
the Company’s collaboration with the Duke-Margolis center and the
potential of its gene therapy product candidates. Any forward-looking
statements are based on management’s current expectations of future
events and are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties that could
cause actual results to differ materially and adversely from those set
forth in or implied by such forward-looking statements. These risks and
uncertainties include, but are not limited to, risks that the
preliminary positive efficacy and safety results from our prior and
ongoing clinical trials of our product candidates will not continue or
be repeated in our ongoing, planned or expanded clinical trials of our
product candidates, the risk of a delay in the enrollment of
patients in our clinical studies, and the risk that any one or more of
our product candidates will not be successfully developed, approved or
commercialized. For a discussion of other risks and uncertainties, and
other important factors, any of which could cause our actual results to
differ from those contained in the forward-looking statements, see the
section entitled “Risk Factors” in our most recent quarterly report on
Form 10-K, as well as discussions of potential risks, uncertainties, and
other important factors in our subsequent filings with the Securities
and Exchange Commission. All information in this press release is as of
the date of the release, and bluebird bio undertakes no duty to update
this information unless required by law.