The FirstTake Podcast – Bluebird Bio and Vertex provide contrasting gene therapy updates

FirstWord Pharma PLUS editors Michael Flanagan, Simon King and Becky Simon discuss the implications of two noteworthy news events in the field of gene therapy this week – bluebird bio’s decision to walk away from Zynteglo reimbursement negotiations in Germany and Vertex’s investment of $900m to increase its share of the economics in CTX001, a gene-editing sickle cell disease therapy being co-developed with CRISPR Therapeutics.
They also discuss feedback from a key opinion leader who thinks Bristol Myers Squibb could be poised to lead the neoadjuvant non-small cell lung cancer market with its immunotherapy Opdivo and run the rule over Roche and Biogen’s first-quarter results.