Bluebird Bio Says Cash Crunch Raises ‘Going Concern’ Risk

(Bloomberg) -- Bluebird Bio Inc. said it faces doubt about its ability to continue operating without raising more money, in the latest signal of a cash squeeze that is grounding some former high-fliers in the biotechnology sector.

The Cambridge, Massachusetts-based company has been burning through cash as it attempts to bring gene therapies for several disorders to market in the U.S. It has confronted setbacks, including a partial hold put in place by regulators on a study of its experimental treatment for sickle cell disease.

Bluebird said in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission on Friday that it had $396.6 million in cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities at the end of last year. It will soon need to raise money, which may not be available on acceptable terms or at all, the filing said. Failing to obtain more cash may hobble Bluebird's efforts to launch new products.

In the meantime, Bluebird said it plans to slash its spending this year, including through measures like moving to a less-expensive corporate space and closing its European operations. It said its cash burn for the full year is expected to be less than $400 million.

Still, the company has determined there's “substantial doubt” about its ability to continue as a going concern -- an accounting term referring to a company's ability to stay afloat -- in the next year.

Many biotechnology companies have seen their shares wilt and the flow of funds from investors dry up in recent months, after the Covid-19 pandemic spurred a rush to back medical innovations. That has left some in a tight spot, since biotechs typically spend heavily on research and development before ever drawing sales and profits from an approved treatment.

Bluebird is no exception. The company rode a wave of enthusiasm for gene therapies to a stock price of more than $150 in early 2018, but the shares have since cratered to $5 as of the close of regular trading on Friday -- a decline of 97%.

Last year, Bluebird spun off its cancer business into a new publicly traded company, 2seventy bio Inc. That stock has also suffered of late, sliding 72% from a 52-week high of $42.56 in November.

For the fourth quarter, Bluebird had revenue from continuing operations of $1.61 million, down 85% from a year earlier, the company said Friday in a statement. Its research and development expenses in the quarter were $79.4 million, up from $58.8 million in the same period a year earlier.