Bluebird Bio, Inc. (BLUE) SEC Filing 10-Q Quarterly report for the period ending Tuesday, March 31, 2020

We expect our expenses will increase substantially in connection with our ongoing and planned activities, as we: conduct clinical studies for our clinical programs in -thalassemia, SCD, and ALD, fund our share of the costs of clinical studies for our program in multiple myeloma in collaboration with BMS, and advance our preclinical programs into clinical development; increase research and development-related activities for the discovery and development of product candidates in severe genetic diseases and oncology; manufacture clinical study materials and establish the infrastructure necessary to support and develop large-scale manufacturing capabilities; seek regulatory approval for our product candidates; add personnel to support our product development and commercialization efforts; and increase activities leading up to the commercial launch of ZYNTEGLO in multiple markets.

The overall increase of $31.5 million was primarily attributable to the following: $14.7 million of increased employee compensation, benefit, and other headcount related expenses, which is primarily driven by an increase in headcount to support overall growth, including an increase of $0.8 million in stock-based compensation expense; $8.4 million of increased material production, laboratory expenses, and other platform costs; $2.4 million of increased clinical trial costs; and $2.2 million of increased consulting fees.