Bluebird bio has re-emerged after a private equity buyout as Genetix Biotherapeutics, marking a return to its roots and a new path forward for manufacturing.
Bluebird bio is emerging from the other side of a private equity buyout and shedding its feathers. The gene therapy company announced a rebrand on Friday, revealing a return to its original name of Genetix Biotherapeutics.
Genetix also has new investors that have filled up the coffers with “significant capital” to support its gene therapy mission—although specifics were not provided. The company also laid out a path forward from the struggles of the past few years, including a plan to boost manufacturing and increase awareness of its three approved gene therapies.
Genetix was the biotech’s original name when it was founded in 1992. The name changed to bluebird in 2010 and while the company managed to get multiple gene therapies approved and across the regulatory finish line—Lyfgenia, Skysona and Zynteglo—the commercial market has proven tough to crack.
Facing a cash crunch heading into this year, bluebird agreed to a go-private buyout in February with global investment firms Carlyle and SK Capital Partners. The deal, which closed in June, was valued at about $50 million.
Since then, the newly private bluebird has been operating in darkness. Today, Friday, the biotech world got a peak behind the curtain at new CEO David Meek’s plans and the refreshed company, Genetix.
“Our rebrand is far more than a name change—it represents renewed hope for thousands of individuals who could benefit from our genetic therapies,” Meek said in a statement. “Although we are the market leader, the vast majority of patients have not yet received treatment.”
He pledged to make access to Genetix’s treatments simpler and more streamlined. While Genetix did not reveal a detailed roadmap, the plan is to expand its manufacturing footprint and bulk up partnerships with qualified treatment centers. Genetix will expand manufacturing capacity “within the next year to meet growing demand” and invest in existing manufacturing facilities. Specifically, the company will add cryopreservation of patient stem cells to “improve the treatment experience.”
On the clinical side, Genetix will keep working on the development of Lyfgenia, also known as lovo-cel. The therapy is being tested in a fully enrolled Phase III trial for adults and children with sickle cell disease. The open label test is examining a single dose administration in an effort to expand the therapy’s patient population to younger children.
Lyfgenia was approved in December 2023 as one of two gene therapies for sickle cell. The treatment can specifically be used for patients 12 years of age or older with a history of vaso-occlusive events, which is the painful, hallmark complication of the disease.
