Shares of Bluebird Bio Inc. (NASDAQ:BLUE) sank 16.6%, or $9.72, to close at $48.83 as Wall Street reacted to news that the U.S. regulatory filing for Lentiglobin in sickle cell disease (SCD) will be delayed. Previously expected in the second half of next year, the filing won’t happen until late 2022.
An earlier-than-intended release of abstracts for the American Society of Hematology annual meeting spilled multiple market-moving updates Nov. 4, though with no apparent shocks so far. Shares of Allogene Therapeutics Inc. sunk 8% on Nov. 4 over some metered disappointment around initial data for ALLO-715, a potential medicine for relapsed/refractory (r/r) multiple myeloma. By contrast, shares of Global Blood Therapeutics Inc. climbed nearly 15%, buoyed by new data supporting the long-term use of its sickle cell disease therapy, Oxbryta (voxelotor).
Dren Bio Inc. has closed on a $60 million series A to push its two lead programs through early clinical development. The company’s DR-01 is an antibody-based therapy for treating rare leukemias, lymphomas and specific phenotypes of autoimmune disorders. The company said it is initially targeting neglected hematology-oncology indications.
Cyclerion Therapeutics Inc.’s phase II blowup with sickle cell disease (SCD) candidate olinciguat ended its development, and attention turned to the Cambridge, Mass.-based firm’s earlier-stage effort with IW-6463, a drug in the same class for central nervous system (CNS) disorders.
A phase III failure of Swedish Orphan Biovitrum AB's oral thrombopoietin receptor agonist avatrombopag to effectively outperform a placebo in treating chemotherapy-induced thrombocytopenia, or low platelet counts, sent company shares down 17.9% on Oct. 9.