CAMBRIDGE, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--bluebird bio, Inc. (Nasdaq: BLUE), a clinical-stage company committed to developing potentially transformative gene therapies for serious genetic diseases and T cell-based immunotherapies for cancer, today announced that interim data from the initial cohort of 17 patients in the ongoing Phase 2/3 Starbeam Study (ALD-102) evaluating Lenti-D™ investigational gene therapy in boys under 18 years old with cerebral adrenoleukodystrophy (CALD) will be presented in a poster at the Child Neurology Society (CNS) 2017 Annual Meeting in Kansas City, Missouri. bluebird will also present previously-disclosed data from the Starbeam study including updated data from ALD-101, the CALD natural history and observational study, at the 13th International Congress of Inborn Errors of Metabolism (ICIEM) in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
“In June, we announced topline data that showed that 15/17 patients who had completed two years of follow-up post treatment with Lenti-D were free of major functional disabilities, the primary endpoint for this study,” said David Davidson, M.D., chief medical officer, bluebird bio. “We look forward to sharing more of our research on CALD at ICIEM and presenting an updated data set from this patient group at CNS. We hope that these data will highlight the benefit that Lenti-D may provide for patients and families affected by CALD.”
ICIEM
Expanding our
Understanding of Cerebral Adrenoleukodystrophy and Interim Phase 2/3
Results of an Autologous Hematopoietic Stem Cell Gene Therapy (Oral
Abstract 570)
Presenter: Hernan Amartino, M.D., Hospital Universitario Austral,
Buenos Aires – Child Neurology Department
Date & Time: September
6, 11:45 a.m. BRT (10:45 a.m. EST)
CNS
Autologous Hematopoietic
Stem Cell Gene Therapy for Cerebral Adrenoleukodystrophy –
Interim Results and Initial Long-Term Follow-Up of an International
Clinical Study (Poster 133)
Presenter: Florian Eichler, M.D., Director of the Leukodystrophy
Service, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston
Poster
Presentation Schedule: Thursday, October 5: Lunch (12:30 pm-2:00
pm); Thursday, October 5: Reception (4:30 pm-6:00 pm); Friday, October
6: Breakfast (7:00 am-8:15 am)
About the Starbeam (ALD-102) Study
The Starbeam Study is
assessing the efficacy and safety of an investigational gene therapy in
boys up to 17 years of age with CALD. It involves transplantation with a
patient’s own stem cells, which are modified to contain functional
copies of the ABCD1 gene. This gene addition should result in the
production of functional adrenoleukodystrophy protein (ALDP), a protein
critical for the breakdown of very long chain fatty acids (VLCFAs).
Buildup of VLCFAs in the central nervous system contributes to
neurodegeneration in CALD.
Subjects enrolled in the study:
- Are eligible for allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplant (HSCT) but with no matched sibling donor
- Have confirmed early-stage, active CALD as indicated by gadolinium enhancement on MRI
- Have a Loes score between 0.5 – 9.0
- Have an NFS of one or less
About CALD
Also known as Lorenzo’s Oil disease,
adrenoleukodystrophy (ALD) is estimated to affect one in every 21,000
male births worldwide. The cerebral form of the disease, cerebral
adrenoleukodystrophy (CALD), is a potentially fatal form of ALD. CALD
involves a breakdown of the protective sheath of the nerve cells in the
brain that are responsible for thinking and muscle control.
Currently, the only effective treatment option for patients with CALD is allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplant (HSCT). Potential complications of allogeneic HSCT, which can be fatal, include graft failure, graft versus host disease (GVHD) and opportunistic infections, particularly in patients who undergo allogeneic HSCT using cells from a donor who is not a matched, unaffected sibling.
Early diagnosis of CALD is important, as the outcome of HSCT varies with clinical stage of the disease at the time of transplant. Favorable outcomes have been observed in patients who undergo transplant in the early stages of cerebral disease. Newborn screening for ALD is a critical enabler of early diagnosis and successful treatment of ALD. In the United States, newborn screening for ALD was added to the Recommended Universal Screening Panel (RUSP) in February 2016. Newborn screening for ALD is active in a limited number of states in the US.
About bluebird bio, Inc.
With its lentiviral-based gene
therapies, T cell immunotherapy expertise and gene editing capabilities,
bluebird bio has built an integrated product platform with broad
potential application to severe genetic diseases and cancer. bluebird
bio’s gene therapy clinical programs include its Lenti-D™ product
candidate, currently in a Phase 2/3 study, called the Starbeam Study,
for the treatment of cerebral adrenoleukodystrophy, and its LentiGlobin™
product candidate, currently in four clinical studies for the treatment
of transfusion-dependent β-thalassemia, and severe sickle cell disease.
bluebird bio’s oncology pipeline is built upon the company’s leadership
in lentiviral gene delivery and T cell engineering, with a focus on
developing novel T cell-based immunotherapies, including chimeric
antigen receptor (CAR T) and T cell receptor (TCR) therapies. bluebird
bio’s lead oncology program, bb2121, is an anti-BCMA CAR T program
partnered with Celgene. bb2121 is currently being studied in a Phase 1
trial for the treatment of relapsed/refractory multiple myeloma.
bluebird bio also has discovery research programs utilizing
megaTAL/homing endonuclease gene editing technologies with the potential
for use across the company’s pipeline.
bluebird bio has operations in Cambridge, Massachusetts, Seattle, Washington and Europe.
Forward-Looking Statements
This release contains
“forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the Private
Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including statements regarding
the clinical and market potential of the Company’s Lenti-D product
candidate. Any forward-looking statements are based on management’s
current expectations of future events and are subject to a number of
risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ
materially and adversely from those set forth in or implied by such
forward-looking statements. These risks and uncertainties include, but
are not limited to, the risk that the preliminary efficacy and safety
data for our Lenti-D product candidate from the Starbeam Study will not
continue or persist, the risk of cessation or delay of any of the
ongoing clinical studies and/or our development of Lenti-D, the risks
regarding future potential regulatory approvals of Lenti-D, and the risk
that any one or more of our product candidates will not be successfully
developed and commercialized. For a discussion of other risks and
uncertainties, and other important factors, any of which could cause our
actual results to differ from those contained in the forward-looking
statements, see the section entitled “Risk Factors” in our most recent
Form 10-Q, as well as discussions of potential risks, uncertainties, and
other important factors in our subsequent filings with the Securities
and Exchange Commission. All information in this press release is as of
the date of the release, and bluebird bio undertakes no duty to update
this information unless required by law.
