FDA scut­tles blue­bird's ac­cel­er­at­ed plans for sick­le cell gene ther­a­py, as high­er CMC bar forces 1-year de­lay

In yet an­oth­er smudge on blue­bird bio’s track record for ex­e­cu­tion, the biotech is push­ing back the fil­ing for its gene ther­a­py in sick­le cell dis­ease by a year due to a new da­ta re­quire­ment from the FDA.

With the set­back, blue­bird joins a league of gene ther­a­py de­vel­op­ers — from Bio­Marin to Voy­ager — that have been ham­pered by CMC is­sues. While some­what un­ex­pect­ed, the reg­u­la­tors’ re­quest high­lights their strin­gency around man­u­fac­tur­ing and qual­i­ty con­trol.

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