The Food and Drug Administration approved a gene therapy from Bluebird Bio Inc. that represents a potential cure for a rare blood disorder at a price of $2.8 million per patient, making it one of the nation’s most expensive drugs.
The FDA on Wednesday cleared the treatment, Zynteglo, for patients who rely on regular blood transfusions because of a genetic disease called beta-thalassemia, which interferes with the production of hemoglobin, a protein in red blood cells that carries oxygen throughout the body.