bluebird sinks on beta-thalassemia data

bluebird bio Inc. (NASDAQ:BLUE) shed $19.79 (22%) to $70.36 on Thursday after it reported that treatment with LentiGlobin BB305 gene therapydid not lead to sustained transfusion independence in three beta-thalassemia patients with the beta-0/beta-0 genotype. Data from the ongoing Phase I/II Northstar (HGB-204) study were released in an abstract ahead of the American Society of Hematology (ASH) meeting in December.

The abstract included data from seven patients who were monitored for at least six months post-infusion, including three patients with the beta-0/beta-0 genotype and four patients with the non-beta-0/beta-0 genotype. ...