Bluebird bio, Inc. (NASDAQ: BLUE)
Bluebird bio, Inc. (BLUE), a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company yesterday announced mixed results at the American Society of Hematology (ASH) meeting regarding their LentiGlobin BB305 treatment, indicated for patients with beta-thalassemia major and severe sickle cell disease. While the treatment still shows positive results in less severe types of beta-thalassemia major, the results for the more severe type have been less promising. The beta-thalassemia disease causes a reduction in the production of hemoglobin forcing the patient to require frequent blood transfusions. While LentiGlobin has forced no need for transfusions in the less severe cases of the study, in the more severe cases there were two patients who needed to receive the transfusions post treatment. Going forward there is a good chance that this may be a cure for the less severe cases, however for the more severe cases it looks like this treatment may not be successful. These results are regarding the treatment for beta-thalassemia major, while the company is still waiting on results for patients with sickle cell which is a much larger market. More results should be delivered at next month’s ASH meeting.
BLUE Technical Analysis
BLUE gapped down in price yesterday to $59.00, down from the prior day’s close of $83.66, which is a 29% decrease on the unfavorable news. Taking a look at the daily chart, we can see the last time BLUE traded at this price level was on December 8th 2014, when it traded at $48.89. Taking a closer look at the daily chart, we can see that BLUE was on an impressive run up earlier in the year when it hit its 52 week high price of $197.35. That run can be contributed to initial positive results regarding their candidate LentiGlobin BB305. However, with the news of mixed results regarding the treatment of LentiGlobin BB305, BLUE has tanked 30%. BLUE does have a float of 36.31 million shares and was trading over 6 times the normal daily trading volume. BLUE did reach pre market lows of $55, but spiked back up to $59 at the open, or equivalent to 7%. For trading purposes, my entry point would have been $58.90 short looking for a move down through $57. My stop loss would have been $59.10, fearing any move above that and the stock would start to fill in the gap down.
Company Profile
Bluebird bio, Inc., a clinical-stage biotechnology company, focuses on developing transformative gene therapies for severe genetic and rare diseases. Its advanced product candidate is Lenti-D, which is in phase II/III clinical studies for the treatment of childhood cerebral adrenoleukodystrophy, a rare, hereditary neurological disorder affecting young boys; and LentiGlobin that is in phase I/II clinical studies for the treatment of beta-thalassemia major and severe sickle cell disease (SCD) in France, as well as a phase I study in the United States for the treatment of severe SCD. The company also develops various CAR T cell products for liquid and solid tumor cancers. bluebird bio, Inc. has a strategic collaboration with Celgene Corporation to discover, develop, and commercialize disease-altering gene therapies in oncology; and a collaboration with Seattle Children’s Research Institute to develop transformative gene therapies for various inherited blood diseases, including bubble boy disease, SCD, and immune deficiency or marrow failure syndromes. The company was formerly known as Genetix Pharmaceuticals, Inc., and changed its name to bluebird bio, Inc. in September 2010. bluebird bio, Inc. was founded in 1992 and is headquartered in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Yahoo Finance
