Bluebird Bio, Inc. (Nasdaq: BLUE) and Celgene Corporation (Nasdaq: CELG) announced that the companies have entered into an agreement to co-develop and co-promote bb2121, an investigational anti-B-cell maturation antigen (BCMA) chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cell therapy for the potential treatment of patients with relapsed/refractory multiple myeloma in the United States.

“Entering into this co-development and co-promotion partnership with Celgene is a significant step forward in building a fully integrated oncology franchise for bluebird and together, we are committed to rapidly advancing development of bb2121 for patients,” said Joanne Smith-Farrell, Ph.D., oncology franchise leader and senior vice president, corporate development and strategy, bluebird bio. “The collaboration builds upon our extensive research and development capabilities in oncology and is a testament to the strong partnership that exists between our two companies.”

The companies originally entered into a broad, global strategic research collaboration in 2013 to discover, develop and commercialize novel therapies in oncology, which included bb2121.

“We are extremely pleased to advance our collaboration with bluebird on bb2121 and we believe this therapy has the potential to significantly impact the treatment approach and outcomes for patients with multiple myeloma,” said Nadim Ahmed, President, Hematology and Oncology forCelgene.    

About the bluebird bio-Celgene Collaboration

bluebird bio and Celgene are collaborating to develop CAR T cell therapies targeting BCMA. The collaboration’s lead oncology program, bb2121, is currently being studied for the treatment of relapsed and refractory multiple myeloma. For bb2121, bluebird and Celgene have joint responsibility for development, manufacturing and commercialization in the United States. Celgene will assume sole responsibility for drug product manufacturing and commercialization outside the United States.

bluebird bio and Celgene are also working together on a second clinical-stage anti-BCMA CAR T program, bb21217.

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 for the treatment of cerebral adrenoleukodystrophy, and its LentiGlobin® product candidate for the treatment of transfusion-dependent β-thalassemia, also known as β-thalassemia major, 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 programs, bb2121 and bb21217, are anti-BCMA CAR T programs partnered with Celgene. 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, Durham, North Carolina and Zug, Switzerland.

LentiGlobin and Lenti-D are trademarks of bluebird bio, Inc..

About Celgene

Celgene Corporation, headquartered in Summit, New Jersey, is an integrated global biopharmaceutical company engaged primarily in the discovery, development and commercialization of innovative therapies for the treatment of cancer and inflammatory diseases through next-generation solutions in protein homeostasis, immuno-oncology, epigenetics, immunology and neuro-inflammation.