Seven out of 67 children who were given bluebird bio’s (NASDAQ:BLUE) gene therapy Skysona during clinical trials ended up developing blood cancer, according to a new study. Six of the children who received the treatment,

Whilst the events do not outline any new safety risks, the data gives a new understanding of the link between oncogenesis and Skysona.

A Bluebird Bio gene therapy has helped children with a devastating neurological disorder, but seven have developed blood cancer, creating difficult choices for the families.

While the use of elivaldogene autotemcel (eli-cel; Skysona) gene therapy has demonstrated long-term efficacy in patients with cerebral adrenoleukodystrophy (CALD), that benefit comes with a risk of developing hematologic cancers, according to results from a pair of studies.