The U.S. regulatory approval of Bluebird Bio's gene therapy for sickle cell disease should have been a momentum-swinging achievement for the long-struggling biotech. Instead, the company mispriced its new drug and fumbled a pivotal financial lifeline, STAT explains. The consequences of these strategic blunders — arguably, self-inflicted — could imperil Bluebird's independence, perhaps even its survival. Bluebird priced its therapy at $3.1 million, much higher than the competing Vertex Pharmaceuticals treatment. Its prescribing label carries a "black box" safety warning to monitor for cancer risk. And it failed to win a regulatory voucher to help with the commercial launch.