Global Blood CEO Speaks on Rising Sales, Diversity in Trials

(Bloomberg) -- Global Blood Therapeutics Inc. Chief Executive Officer Ted Love says his company’s new treatment for sickle cell disease is already seeing a steady stream of prescriptions since its November launch.

Global Blood’s Oxbryta is projected to rake in more than a billion dollars in annual sales by 2024, according to Wall Street estimates. Global Blood is expected to report second-quarter results in the coming month and analysts estimate sales will be about $16.6 million for the period, up from $14.1 million in the first quarter. The disease affects about 100,000 Americans, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Love has been CEO since 2014. Bloomberg News spoke with him about Global Blood’s efforts within the sickle cell community, which mostly affects Black people, the lack of diversity in drug development, and his experience as one of biotechnology’s few Black CEOs. Below are excerpts from the conversations, edited for length and clarity.

How is Covid impacting the launch of Oxbryta so far and what should investors expect in the second quarter of sales sometime in the coming weeks?

There has been an overwhelming unmet need in sickle cell disease for many years. As with the others in the biopharma industry, Covid-19 has created a temporary headwind on the launch, but feedback from health professionals and patients has been positive and we do not believe the pandemic will impact Oxbryta’s long-term potential. Patient access to Oxbryta is a top priority, and we are on track to meet our goal of broad coverage of Oxbryta by the end of the year.

Sickle cell disease primarily affects African Americans in the U.S., how is the disorder a microcosm of health disparities here?

In terms of the total burden of sickle cell, it is kind of representative of the health care disparity problem in the U.S. There’s no doubt about that, because it does disproportionately occur in people of color and I think a lot of information has shown that people of color are treated differentially in the health care system. I think they’re particularly treated differently when it comes to things like use of pain killers and this bias that people with sickle cell disease are seeking pain relief.

Why has sickle cell been ignored by the industry?

I think interest in sickle cell has lagged for many reasons. If you just look historically at NIH and academic investment in studying sickle cell disease, it was disproportionately low when compared to things like cystic fibrosis. That has to do with grant money being applied and not to do with the industry. If you don’t have the investment in the science then often the industry doesn’t have a road map for how to go forward.

There’s a well documented lack of diversity in clinical studies as a whole, what did Global Blood do to ensure patients in the trials had access to the treatment? And what can drug developers learn from your success developing Oxbryta?

We knew we didn’t have the option to even get our trials done if we couldn’t recruit people of color. We’ve been flexible about creating an environment that allowed patients to visit trial sites after hours since many of these patients work jobs that don’t have flexibility to take time off of work to participate in studies. People of color often don’t have cars, so we were intentional about providing Uber rides to get them in our studies.

For the drug development industry, racial disparity goes far beyond just a a lack of diversity in clinical studies. Being one of the few Black biotech CEOs, how have things changed across the industry in your career?

I don’t think I’ve seen that much change -- I’ve been in the industry since 1992 -- but I see some change. My role, Ken Frazier’s role at the head of Merck & Co., and a few others are one-offs. These are not fundamental changes in the industry. When I go to major banking and industry meetings I am frequently the only Black person in the room. Sometimes there are one or two others, but it’s a gross underrepresentation.

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