Bluebird builds the case against gene therapy cancer link

Bluebird is seeking to resume clinical development and marketing of products based on the BB305 lentiviral vector after largely ruling it out as the cause of cancer in a clinical trial participant, but the case brings up lingering questions about the risks of lentiviral vectors. 

Last month, FDA placed a clinical hold on a pair of studies evaluating LentiGlobin gene therapy (bb1111) for sickle cell disease and β thalassemia after bluebird bio Inc. (NASDAQ:BLUE) suspended the studies on the report of a suspected unexpected serious adverse event of acute myelogenous leukemia (AML). ...