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 Huntingtons disease (HD) and spinal muscular atrophy (SMA). Voyager will provide Novartis a target-exclusive license to access Voyagers 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 Voyagers 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 Voyagers 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 Voyagers TRACER capsid discovery platform for use in gene therapy programs against two undisclosed neurological disease targets.
Collaboration Details and Financial Terms
Under the terms of the agreement, Novartis has agreed to pay Voyager $100 million of consideration up front, including a $20 million purchase of newly issued equity in Voyager. Voyager is eligible to receive up to $1.2 billion in preclinical, development, regulatory and sales milestones, as well as tiered royalties on global net sales of products incorporating Voyagers TRACER capsids. Novartis will obtain target-exclusive access to Voyagers TRACER capsids related to SMA for the duration of the agreement and will be responsible for all development and commercialization. Novartis will also receive worldwide rights to Voyagers AAV gene therapy for HD, leveraging Voyagers TRACER capsids and proprietary payloads. Voyager will be responsible for preclinical advancement and Novartis will be responsible for all clinical development and commercialization for the HD program.
Chestnut Partners served as exclusive financial advisor to Voyager on this transaction.