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Voyager Therapeutics Announces License Option Agreement with Pfizer for Next-Generation TRACERᵀᴹ AAV Capsids to Enable Neurologic and Cardiovascular Gene Therapy Programs
Voyager receives $30 million up front with potential option exercise fees and milestone payments of up to $600 million plus product sales-based royalties
About this update from Voyager Therapeutics, Inc.
[{"type":"text","content":"Voyager receives $30 million up front with potential option exercise fees and milestone payments of up to $600 million plus product sales-based royalties Pfizer receives transgene-specific access to Voyager’s novel AAV capsids with enhanced blood-brain-barrier penetration and cardiac muscle tropism for potential use with two transgenes CAMBRIDGE, Mass., Oct. 06, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Voyager Therapeutics, Inc. (Nasdaq: VYGR), a gene therapy company developing life-changing treatments and next-generation adeno-associated virus (AAV) platform technologies, today announced an agreement through which Pfizer Inc (NYSE: PFE) may exercise options to license novel capsids generated from Voyager’s RNA-driven TRACERTM (Tropism Redirection of AAV by Cell-type-specific Expression of RNA) screening technology as part of Pfizer’s efforts to develop, manufacture, and commercialize gene therapies, utilizing two undisclosed transgenes to treat certain neurologic and cardiovascular diseases. “This transaction highlights the potential of our TRACER platform to identify novel AAV capsids that target desired cells and tissues with greater specificity at lower doses and with fewer off-target risks than conventional AAV serotypes,” said Michael Higgins, Interim CEO of Voyager. “We believe that our TRACER platform has the ability to produce not only enhanced blood-brain-barrier penetrant capsids, but also novel capsids with enhanced tropisms across a diversity of tissues and cell types, offering promise to unlock the fullest potential of gene therapies for a wide array of diseases with unmet medical need.” \"Our collaboration with Voyager will provide Pfizer with access to additional AAV capsids that may help further advance our industry-leading gene therapy portfolio,” said Seng Cheng, Ph.D., Senior Vice President and Chief Scientific Officer of Pfizer's Rare Disease Research Unit. “We are impressed with Voyager’s results to date and are enthusiastic about the potential to utilize these novel capsids to help accelerate the development of new therapeutic options for patients living with certain neurologic and cardiovascular diseases.” Proprietary AAV capsids derived from Voyager’s TRACER platform have demonstrated superior blood-brain-barrier penetration, enhanced cardiac muscle tropism, and increased transgene expression in target tissues compared ...