Voyager Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ: VYGR) shares move upward Thursday, as the biotechnology company dedicated to advancing neurogenetic medicines, today announced that Novartis AG (NYSE: NVS) has agreed to license a novel capsid generated from Voyager’s TRACER™ capsid discovery platform for use in a gene therapy program against an undisclosed rare neurologic disease target. This capsid license is being granted pursuant to the agreement between Voyager and Novartis originally announced in March 2022.
“Novartis is a global leader in gene therapy, and we view their continued selection of our IV-delivered, blood-brain barrier-penetrant capsids as strong validation of our TRACER capsid discovery platform,” said Voyager CEO Alfred W. Sandrock, Jr. “We are proud of the continued success of the relationship between Voyager and Novartis, which now includes five gene therapy programs: Huntington’s disease, spinal muscular atrophy, and three undisclosed indications.”
In consideration for the current capsid license, Voyager will receive $15M upfront and is eligible to receive up to $305 million in associated potential development, regulatory, and commercial milestone payments, as well as tiered mid- to high-single digit royalties on a potential product incorporating the licensed capsid for this target.
Voyager’s TRACER™ (Tropism Redirection of AAV by Cell-type-specific Expression of RNA) capsid discovery platform is a broadly applicable, RNA-based screening platform that enables rapid discovery of novel AAV capsids to enable gene therapy
VYGR added 15 cents, or 2.4%, to $6.35, while NVS slumped $1.96, or 1.6%, to $117.42.
