Bluebird Bio initiated with a Neutral at Cantor Fitzgerald

Cantor Fitzgerald initiated coverage of Bluebird Bio (BLUE) with a Neutral rating and no price target. Cantor expects Bluebird’s lovo-cel to be approved on or around its PDUFA date and believes its profile is more similar than different from Vertex (VRTX) and Crispr’s (CRSP) exa-cel, but feels cell therapies face multiple barriers to penetrating the sickle cell disorder market, the analyst tells investors in a research note. Cantor adds that Bluebird’s resource constraints could place lovo-cel at a competitive disadvantage.