Gene therapy company Bluebird Bio on Tuesday announced a 25% reduction of its workforce as part of a restructuring meant to save money as it seeks to market its expensive but potentially life-saving treatments for sickle cell disease and other disorders.
The company, which has secured approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for treatments including the sickle-cell gene therapy Lyfgenia, has not yet seen the financial payoff from its scientific breakthroughs — and it says it is continuing to lose money. Though Bluebird did not say exactly how many people would be laid off, the company in June reported having 375 full-time employees, which would place the number of job cuts just below 100 people.
Bluebird did not say where the affected workers were employed, or whether all the cuts would happen at its Somerville, Mass., headquarters.
