Genetix Pharmaceuticals, a US-based biotechnology company, has changed its name to Bluebird Bio and made one of its venture capital (VC) investors executive president.
Nick Leschly, partner of Third Rock Ventures, has been appointed the company’s president and chief executive. He was made interim president of Bluebird in March at the close of the company’s undersubscribed series B round that was reported to have closed at $35m, above that shown in the regulatory filing.
Third Rock led the B round that also saw biotech company Genzyme’s corporate venturing division join the investment consortium as a new investor. James Geraghty, senior vice president at Genzyme, in which France’s Sanofi-Aventis is trying to buy, joined Bluebird’s board in March.
Genetix formed in 1993 and was originally funded by corporate investors before VCs restarted and recapitalised the company in 2004 with $12m, according to news provider VentureWire.
Bluebird’s other investors since 2004 are VCs TVM Capital; Forbion Capital Partners, after its independence from Dutch bank ABN Amro; and Easton Capital.