The Motley Fool: Is Pfizer Putting the Car-T Before the Horse?

Immuno-onocology is grabbing a large share of the headlines in oncology drug development these days and generating significant buzz for Big Pharma companies including Merck and Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE: BMY  ) . While Pfizer (NYSE: PFE  ) has not been seen as a leader in IO drug development, the company does have antibodies in development targeting IO targets like 4-1BB, OX-40, and PD-1. Now the company has added more shots on goal to its IO platform, striking a collaboration agreement with French biotech Cellectis to develop chimeric antigen receptor T-cell therapies, an unproven but high-potential emerging therapeutic class.

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Is Pfizer Putting the Car-T Before the Horse?

Seeking Alpha: Bluebird Takes Flight On Very Promising, Very Early Data

Investors have had good reason to be skeptical of Bluebird Bio (BLUE). Gene therapy was the "next big thing" in the mid-to-late 1990s and while it is too negative to say it has thus far produced almost nothing of value, it certainly hasn't lived up to "the medicine of tomorrow, today!" hype. While I was bullish on Bluebird Bio back in February, I wasn't entirely surprised to see the shares of this very early-stage, high speculative stock sell off when the biotech sector started wheezing shortly thereafter.

Now, investors have some enticing data to mull over. Over the weekend, Bluebird Bio presented data on two patients in its HGB-205 study of LentiGlobin gene therapy in beta-thalassemia, and while two bluebirds may not make a summer, the surprisingly strong response in these two patients suggests that Bluebird may just have something big on its hands.

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Bluebird Takes Flight On Very Promising, Very Early Data

Seeking Alpha: Bluebird Bio May Turn Dreams Into Reality

Gene therapy has generated exceptional excitement and interest over its potential for over three decades, but actual clinical progress has been painfully slow and frustrating. Bluebird Bio (BLUE) (and I am choosing to capitalize the name, even though it is officially lower case) may be on its way to transforming at least part of the dreams and hopes of gene therapy into reality.

Bluebird has developed a platform that management believes will allow the company to deliver therapies via lentivirus vectors to treat single-gene rare/orphan disorders. The company's lead compound addresses a small market, but the second could be a potential billion-dollar therapy. The risks here are definitely elevated, but Bluebird may be in the early days of establishing a leadership position in a major therapeutic class.

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Bluebird Bio May Turn Dreams Into Reality