As part of the agreement, Resilience will acquire Bluebird's Research Triangle clinical and commercial suspension lentiviral vector manufacturing facility in Durham, NC, and retain all employees (more than 100) at the site. The 125,000-sq-ft facility includes drug substance and drug product production suites, quality control testing laboratories, and warehousing space, as well as additional room for future expansion. Resilience has committed to investing in new technologies and expanding the workforce as part of its mission to build a digitally connected, end-to-end biomanufacturing ecosystem, it said.

Bluebird will receive $110 million from Resilience upon closing the transaction.

Resilience will continue to support vector supply for both Bluebird and 2seventy bio (a spinoff oncology cell therapy company that is expected to launch by the end of 2021). The two companies will continue to collaborate on the next phase of 2seventy's pipeline, contributing expertise in cell therapy development and manufacturing.

The companies are also finalizing an agreement to establish partner programs that will share expenses and revenue for successfully commercialized oncology products and the establishment of a next-generation manufacturing R&D collaboration.