Bluebird bio got the green light to restart halted trials

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has given bluebird bio the green light to resume its clinical trials of gene therapy, LentiGlobin. This came after concluding that the therapy wasn’t responsible for the rare case of cancer diagnosed in a trial participant in February 2021.

LentiGlobin inserts a modified gene in patients. The inserted gene allows patients to produce enough adult hemoglobin to potentially eliminate or significantly reduce the need for transfusions and hence improve patients’ quality of life. Not only this, the reduction of blood transfusion will reduce the risk of iron overload and hence toxicity due to accumulated to iron in key organs like the liver, heart, and endocrine system.