bluebird bio Inc (NASDAQ:BLUE) shares took off on Thursday after the biotechnology company provided positive patient start guidance for the new year and revealed a commercial agreement with a US payer that provides coverage to 100 million patients for its recent Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-approved sickle cell therapy Lyfgenia.
In a regulatory filing, bluebird said it expects to see 85 to 105 patients initiate the treatment process across its three approved cell therapies Lyfgenia, Zynteglo, and Skysona in 2024.
Analysts at Baird wrote in a note to clients that they were encouraged by the company’s 2024 guidance surrounding patient starts.
“While dynamics surrounding outcomes-based agreements and gross-to-net pricing slightly complicate the math as it relates to translating patient starts into revenues, we believe this guidance conservatively translates to about $170 million in revenue from product sales expected 2024 which is notably higher than the current consensus of about $146 million,” the analysts wrote.
They also noted the significance of the company announcing its first outcomes-based agreement for Lyfgenia.
“While bluebird's team will continue to work to secure additional agreements with both commercial and Medicaid payers over the course of the coming months/quarters, we believe their ability to rapidly reach an agreement with a major commercial payer should help to start to quell any concerns that the high price of Lyfgenia would restrict access,” they wrote.
The Baird analysts have an ‘Outperform” rating on the stock and a $7 price target.
bluebird shares were up 10.4% at US$3.36 on Thursday afternoon.