bluebird bio and Gritstone Oncology Announce Strategic Collaboration to Develop Novel Cancer Cell
Therapies
bluebird bio, Inc. (Nasdaq: BLUE) and Gritstone Oncology, Inc. today announced a collaboration to research, develop and commercialize products for the
treatment of cancer using cell therapy. Gritstone Oncology will leverage its proprietary EDGE™ artificial intelligence platform to
analyze specific tumor types to identify tumor-specific targets and natural T-cell receptors (TCRs) directed to those targets for
use in bluebird bio’s established cell therapy platforms. bluebird bio will conduct all development, manufacturing and commercial
activities. Gritstone Oncology will utilize its proprietary technology platform to enable patient selection for clinical
development of such therapies.
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“By combining our expertise in gene and cell therapy with Gritstone Oncology’s unique target identification and TCR technology,
we hope to bring the power of cell therapy to a broader set of newly-validated targets, enabling us to treat previously
unaddressable patient populations,” said Philip Gregory, D.Phil., chief scientific officer of bluebird bio. “As we expand our
immuno-oncology focus and portfolio, this collaboration with Gritstone Oncology is highly complementary to our goal of rapidly
advancing novel cellular therapies with the potential to transform the lives of people with cancer, particularly in solid tumor
indications.”
“As the field of immuno-oncology has evolved, it has become clear that targeting T-cell therapeutics to solid tumors in a highly
specific manner is vital to enable potent tumor cell killing with sparing of normal tissues,” said Andrew Allen, M.D., Ph.D.,
president and chief executive officer of Gritstone Oncology. “We believe that our artificial intelligence-based approach to
identifying tumor-specific targets and corresponding, naturally occurring TCRs, combined with bluebird bio’s expertise in gene and
cell therapy, will allow us to develop cellular immunotherapies against differentiated oncology targets. We look forward to
collaborating with the bluebird bio team in order to develop innovative treatments for patients in need.”
Under the terms of the agreement, Gritstone Oncology will provide 10 tumor-specific targets across several tumor types and, in
certain cases, TCRs directed to those targets to bluebird bio. Gritstone Oncology will receive $20 million in an upfront payment
and an additional $10 million in the form of a Series C preferred equity investment. In addition, Gritstone Oncology is eligible
for significant development, regulatory and commercial milestones on any therapies, and tiered royalties on certain approved
therapies.
About bluebird bio, Inc.
With its lentiviral-based gene therapies, T cell immunotherapy expertise and gene editing capabilities, bluebird bio has
built a pipeline with broad potential application in severe genetic diseases and cancer.
bluebird bio's gene therapy clinical programs include investigational treatments for cerebral adrenoleukodystrophy,
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 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. The
company’s lead oncology programs are anti-BCMA CAR T programs partnered with Celgene.
bluebird bio’s discovery research programs include 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.
About Gritstone Oncology, Inc.
Gritstone Oncology is developing tumor-specific cancer immunotherapies to fight multiple cancer types. The company has built its
approach on two key pillars—first, a proprietary machine learning-based platform, Gritstone EDGE™, which provides the powerful
ability to predict from a routine tumor biopsy the tumor-specific neoantigens, or TSNA, that are presented on a patient’s tumor
cells; and second, the ability to develop and manufacture potent immunotherapies utilizing patients’ TSNA to drive the patient’s
immune system to attack and destroy tumors. Gritstone brings together distinguished scientific founders, an experienced and diverse
management team, a seasoned and successful board of directors and deep financial backing from Versant Ventures, The Column Group,
Clarus Funds, Frazier Healthcare Partners, Redmile Group, Casdin Capital, Lilly Asia Ventures, Trinitas Capital, GV, Alexandria
Venture Investments and Bay City Capital. More information can be found at www.gritstone.com or @gritstoneonc.
bluebird bio Forward-Looking Statements
This release contains “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995,
including statements regarding the research, development and advancement of bluebird bio’s product candidates and immuno-oncology
research program, including its TCR research program and those shared with Gritstone Oncology, the amounts of milestone and
royalties potentially payable to Gritstone Oncology, and the benefits of each company’s strategic plans and focus. Any
forward-looking statements are based on management’s current expectations of future events and are subject to a number of risks and
uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially and adversely from those set forth in or implied by such
forward-looking statements. These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, the risk that the research programs for
these targets will be unsuccessful and not identify any viable product candidates, the risk that our collaboration
with Gritstone Oncology will not continue or will not be successful, the risk of cessation or delay of any planned
clinical studies and/or our development of our product candidates, and the risk that any one or more of our product candidates will
not be successfully developed and commercialized. For a discussion of other risks and uncertainties, and other important factors,
any of which could cause our actual results to differ from those contained in the forward-looking statements, see the section
entitled “Risk Factors” in our most recent quarterly report on Form 10-Q, as well as discussions of potential risks, uncertainties,
and other important factors in our subsequent filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. All information in this
press release is as of the date of the release, and bluebird bio undertakes no duty to update this information unless required by
law.
Gritstone Oncology Contacts
1AB
Dan Budwick, 973-271-6085
dan@1abmedia.com
or
Wheelhouse Life Science Advisors
Alexandra Santos
asantos@wheelhouselsa.com
bluebird bio Contacts
Elizabeth Pingpank, 617-914-8736
Investor Relations
epingpank@bluebirdbio.com
or
Stephanie Fagan, 201-572-9581
Media Relations
sfagan@bluebirdbio.com
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