Bluebird Bio buys virus factory

Cell- and gene-therapy developer Bluebird Bio has purchased a 12,000-m² facility in Durham, N.C., where it will produce lentiviruses, used to encapsulate and deliver DNA into cells for gene therapies. By making the viruses in-house, Bluebird hopes to avoid a virus shortage that has delayed many gene-therapy research programs. Bluebird has also signed agreements to purchase viruses from three outside firms: Brammer Bio, Novasep, and MilliporeSigma. The company is developing cell and gene therapies for cerebral adrenoleukodystrophy, beta-thalassemia, sickle cell disease, and multiple myeloma.