ORTX - Bluebird bio upgraded to buy at Mizuho on safety update

Today Bluebird bio ([[BLUE]] +7.5%) announced that the BB305 lentiviral vector was unlikely to be the reason for the case of acute myeloid leukemia which had forced the company to halt two clinical trials for sickle cell disease (“SCD”).Noting that the update has essentially de-risked the company’s narrative and increased the probability of commercial success in both sickle cell and beta-thalassemia, the analysts at Mizuho Securities have upgraded the stock to buy from neutral.With more than a twofold rise from the previous, the latest price target at $69.00 per share implies ~129.7% upside to the previous close.Despite raising the probability of success for both programs to ~80% from 0%, the analysts project a more conservative market share assumption in sickle cell disease expecting the safety concerns to form a more rigorous risk/benefit assessment.Citing the presence of LV vector in the AML blast cells as announced by the company today, the analyst Difei Yang

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Bluebird bio upgraded to buy at Mizuho on safety update