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Voyager Therapeutics Enters Capsid License Agreement and Strategic Collaboration with Novartis to Advance Novel Gene Therapies
- Collaboration with gene therapy leader Novartis aims to discover and develop new approaches for Huntington’s disease and spinal muscular atrophy - - Voyager
About this update from Voyager Therapeutics, Inc.
[{"type":"text","content":"- Collaboration with gene therapy leader Novartis aims to discover and develop new approaches for Huntington’s disease and spinal muscular atrophy - - Voyager to receive up-front consideration of $100 million and is eligible to receive milestone payments and tiered royalties - LEXINGTON, Mass., Jan. 02, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Voyager Therapeutics, Inc. (Nasdaq: VYGR), a biotechnology company dedicated to advancing neurogenetic medicines, today announced a strategic collaboration and capsid license agreement with Novartis Pharma AG, a subsidiary of Novartis AG (NYSE: NVS) to advance potential gene therapies for Huntington’s disease (HD) and spinal muscular atrophy (SMA). Voyager will provide Novartis a target-exclusive license to access Voyager’s TRACER™ capsids and other intellectual property for the respective diseases, and Voyager and Novartis will collaborate to advance a preclinical gene therapy candidate for HD. “We are thrilled to expand our existing relationship with Novartis, a global leader in the gene therapy field,” said Alfred W. Sandrock, Jr., M.D., Ph.D., Chief Executive Officer of Voyager. “Combining the proven capabilities of Novartis in gene therapy development and commercialization with Voyager’s next-generation TRACER capsids and payloads could enable the advancement of important new therapies for patients. In addition, the consideration Voyager will receive from this collaboration will strengthen our balance sheet and extend our runway into mid-2026.” “We look forward to broadening our work with Voyager to help bring forward novel, high-impact gene therapies with the potential to improve the lives of patients affected by severe neurologic conditions,” said Fiona Marshall, President of Biomedical Research at Novartis. “We believe Voyager’s TRACER capsids hold promise for enabling next-generation gene therapies for diseases of the central nervous system, aligning well with our deep neuroscience expertise and gene therapy leadership at Novartis.” Novartis previously exercised options to license novel capsids generated from Voyager’s TRACER capsid discovery platform for use in gene therapy programs against two undisclosed neurological disease targets. Collaboration Details and Financial TermsUnder the terms of the agreement, Novartis has agreed to pay Voyager $100 million of consideration up front, including a ...