Leerink sees little impact to genetic medicines from Pfizer’s Oxbryta withdrawal

Leerink analyst David Risinger notes that Pfizer (blue‘>PFE) announced that it is voluntarily withdrawing Oxbryta, a drug that was approved for the treatment of sickle cell disease, from the worldwide market. Although the financial impact of Oxbryta termination is modest, Leerink believes investors may also question GBT-601 prospects. The firm awaits further clarity from Pfizer on whether GBT-601 will be impacted, but expects minimal impact to Market Perform-rated Beam Therapeutics (BEAM), Market Perform-rated Bluebird Bio (BLUE), Market Perform-rated Editas Medicine (EDIT), and Outperform-rated Crispr Therapeutics (CRSP) – as target populations for Oxbryta and genetic medicines/transplantation have limited overlap. With two other novel agents approved – Emmaus Life Sciences’ (EMMA) Endari and Novartis’ (NVS) Adakveo, Leerink does not expect Oxbryta withdrawal to materially impact near-term patient demand for Crispr/Vertex Pharmaceuticals’ (VRTX) Casgevy or Bluebird Bio’s Lyfgenia. Additionally, the firm thinks that the withdrawal of Oxbryta could have a positive influence on the enrollment of Fulcrum Therapeutics ‘ (FULC) Phase 1b PIONEER trial, a hurdle that the company has been trying to overcome, getting them one step closer to reporting data in 2025.