bluebird bio Inc.
BLUE
reported a loss of $3.01 per share in fourth-quarter 2020, narrower than the Zacks Consensus Estimate of a loss of $3.02 and the year-ago quarter’s loss of $4.04.
Revenues of $10.7 million missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $15 million. The figure grew from $10 million in the year-ago quarter.
Shares of the company have plunged 66.4% in the past year against the
industry
’s growth of 9.7%.
Quarter in Detail
R&D expenses decreased to $137.1 million from $161.8 million a year ago due to a decline in manufacturing costs.
Selling, general and administrative (SG&A) expenses of $77 million were up from $76.2 million in the year-ago quarter due to increased headcount and costs incurred to support the company’s ongoing operations and growth of its pipeline.
Pipeline Development
In February 2021, bluebird announced the temporary suspension of its phase I/II (HGB-206) and phase III (HGB-210) studies of LentiGlobin gene therapy insickle cell disease (SCD) because of reported Suspected Unexpected Serious Adverse Reactions (SUSARs) of acute myeloid leukemia (AML).The company is investigating these events and plans to continue to work closely with the FDA in their review of these events.
Further, bluebird noted that it will further suspend the marketing of betibeglogene autotemcel for transfusion-dependent β-thalassemia (Zyntelgo) since it is manufactured with the same BB305 lentiviral vector, which is used in LentiGlobin gene therapy for SCD.
bluebird and
Bristol Myers Squibb
BMY
announced that the FDA has set an action date of Mar 27, 2021,for ide-cel (bb2121), the companies’ investigational B-cell maturation antigen (BCMA)-directed chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cell immunotherapy.
Full-Year 2020 Results
The company reported a loss of $9.95 per share in 2020, narrower than the Zacks Consensus Estimate of a loss of $10.01 and the year-ago quarter’s loss of $14.31.
Revenues of $250.7 million in 2020 missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $262.9 million. The figure grew from $44.7 million in 2019.
Divestment
On Jan 11, 2021, bluebird bio announced its plans to separate its severe genetic disease and oncology businesses into two independent, publicly-traded companies (bluebird bio and Oncology Newco). The separation is expected to be completed by 2021-end. Following the separation, bluebird aims to focus on the delivery of its Core 3 therapies in β-thalassemia, cerebral adrenoleukodystrophy and sickle cell disease, and expand access and reimbursement for itscommercial product, Zynteglo, in Europe.
Meanwhile, Oncology Newco plans to support the commercial success of ide-cel and continued development of bb21217, and deliver on the oncology pipeline of cellular therapies.
Zacks Rank & Stocks to Consider
bluebirdcurrently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).
Some better-ranked stocks in the healthcare sector include
Atea Pharmaceuticals Inc.
AVIR
and
Clearside Biomedical Inc.
CLSD
. All of them carry a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see
the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here
.
Atea’s earnings per share estimates have increased from $3.53 to $3.70 for 2021 over the past 60 days. Shares of the company have increased 151.2% in the past year.
Clearside’s loss per share estimates have narrowed from 38 cents to 28 cents for 2021 over the past 60 days. Shares of the company have increased 38.4% in the past year.
bluebird bio, Inc. Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise
bluebird bio, Inc. price-consensus-eps-surprise-chart
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bluebird bio, Inc. Quote
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