As bluebird bio works to make the most of three gene therapy launches, cash-flow concerns have been looming over the drugmaker.
Now, Hercules Capital has swooped in to offer a five-year loan—worth up to $175 million—that will significantly extend the company's runway.
The first $75 million portion of the loan was drawn upon the deal closing, with two $25 million tranches available upon the achievement of certain commercial milestones, bluebird said in a Monday release.
A fourth $50 million pot “may be available at the sole discretion Hercules,” bluebird added. Excluding that tranche, the $125 million in loan funding should support the company's operations through the first quarter of 2026.
“This financing underscores the value bluebird offers as a standalone gene therapy leader and meaningfully extends our runway, bolstering our ability to bring transformative treatments to patients and their families,” bluebird's chief financial officer, Chris Krawtschuk, said in the release.
Bluebird in December scored FDA approval for its sickle cell disease (SCD) gene therapy Lyfgenia, albeit with a black-box warning. Bluebird set its wholesale acquisition cost at $3.1 million, about 40% higher than the price competitor Vertex put on its CRISPR Therapeutics-partnered SCD therapy Casgevy.
Still, bluebird CEO Andrew Obenshain has said there's much more to consider than just the starting price for the therapies. Bluebird has offered a “very innovative contract” for its drug that has been well received by payers, Obenshain said in January.
Outside of Lyfgenia, bluebird also markets its one-time beta thalassemia treatment Zynteglo, which comes with a $2.8 million price tag. The company also sells cerebral adrenoleukodystrophy gene therapy Skysona, which is priced at $3 million. Those drugs won back-to-back approvals in 2022.
Amid its regulatory advances, bluebird has sought new cash sources to support its commercial future.
Other than the latest loan, the company has reached an agreement with Alterna Capital Solutions to hand over future revenues in exchange for upfront funding in a deal that covers a maximum credit of $100 million.
It also announced in December that it was working with Goldman Sachs and J.P. Morgan Securities to sell $150 million in new shares.
Before all of those fundraising efforts, bluebird estimated that its cash and certain other assets could fund operations through the second quarter of 2024.