Massachusetts-based biotech Voyager Therapeutics announced a $54 million deal with Novartis in which Novartis will license novel AAV capsids generated from Voyager’s proprietary capsid discovery platform for potential use with three undisclosed CNS targets.
Through the agreement, Novartis may exercise options to license three initial targets from Voyager’s RNA-driven TRACER (Tropism Redirection of AAV by Cell-type-specific Expression of RNA) with the option to evaluate capsids for up to two additional targets to be agreed on in the future.
In total, the deal could mean up to $1.7 billion in potential payments for Voyager, which includes development, regulatory, and commercial milestones for the products developed using its licensed capsids.
According to the Voyager's recent statement, an initial set of proprietary AAV capsids derived from the platform have already demonstrated superior transgene expression in target tissues, as well as increased transaction in the bran and spinal cord.
