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Voyager (VYGR) Gains on Gene Therapy Deal With Novartis
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Voyager Therapeutics, Inc. (VYGR - Free Report) announced a strategic collaboration and capsid license agreement with Novartis Pharma AG, a subsidiary of pharma giant Novartis (NVS - Free Report) .
Voyager aims to discover and develop new approaches for Huntington’s disease (“HD”) and spinal muscular atrophy (“SMA”) through this agreement with Novartis.
Voyager will provide Novartis with a target-exclusive license to access its TRACER capsids and other intellectual property for the respective diseases.
Both companies will collaborate to advance a preclinical gene therapy candidate for HD.
Per the financial terms, Novartis will make an upfront payment of $100 million to Voyager, including a $20 million purchase of newly issued equity in Voyager.
Voyager is also 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 that incorporate its TRACER capsids.
In lieu, Novartis will obtain target-exclusive access to Voyager’s TRACER capsids related to SMA for the duration of the agreement and will be responsible for all development and commercialization activities.
Novartis will also receive worldwide rights to Voyager’s adeno-associated virus gene therapy for HD, leveraging VYGR’s TRACER capsids and proprietary payloads. While Voyager will be responsible for preclinical advancement, Novartis will be responsible for all clinical development and commercialization of the HD program.
Shares of Voyager skyrocketed more than 30% in pre-market trading on the deal announcement. The funds received will extend the company’s runway into mid-2026. The gains pared and shares were up 6.6% at the end of trading on Jan 2.
Shares of Voyager have lost 20% in the past six months against the industry’s growth of 0.4%.
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
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.
We remind investors that Novartis entered a license option agreement with Voyager in 2022 for three capsids to use in potential gene therapies for neurological diseases, with options to access capsids for two other targets.
Capsids are protein shells that enclose the genetic material of the virus used in developing a gene therapy.
In addition to leveraging TRACER Capsids in potential licensing arrangements, VYGR is advancing its proprietary pipeline of drug candidates for neurological diseases, with a focus on Alzheimer’s disease (“AD”). The company’s prioritized pipeline programs include superoxide dismutase 1 or SOD1, gene therapy for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and an anti-tau antibody for AD.
On the other hand, Novartis has Zolgensma, a gene therapy for pediatric patients with SMA, in its portfolio.
Gene therapies are in focus with the recent FDA approval of bluebird bio’s lovotibeglogene autotemcel (lovo-cel) for the treatment of sickle cell disease (“SCD”) in patients aged 12 and older who have a history of vaso-occlusive events. The FDA approved lovo-cel under the brand name Lyfgenia.
Concurrently, the FDA also approved Vertex Pharmaceuticals and CRISPR Therapeutics’ exagamglogene autotemcel, a CRISPR/Cas9 genome-edited cell therapy, for the treatment of SCD in patients 12 years and older with recurrent vaso-occlusive crises under the brand name Casgevy.
Entrada’s loss per share estimate for 2023 has narrowed from $2.07 to 9 cents in the past 60 days. The same for 2024 has narrowed from $2.35 to $2.04 during the same time frame.
Dynavax’s loss per share estimate for 2023 has narrowed from 23 cents to 12 cents in the past 90 days. The bottom-line estimate for 2024 rose from 3 cents to 18 cents during the same period. Shares of DVAX have risen 12.5% in the past six months.
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Voyager (VYGR) Gains on Gene Therapy Deal With Novartis
Voyager Therapeutics, Inc. (VYGR - Free Report) announced a strategic collaboration and capsid license agreement with Novartis Pharma AG, a subsidiary of pharma giant Novartis (NVS - Free Report) .
Voyager aims to discover and develop new approaches for Huntington’s disease (“HD”) and spinal muscular atrophy (“SMA”) through this agreement with Novartis.
Voyager will provide Novartis with a target-exclusive license to access its TRACER capsids and other intellectual property for the respective diseases.
Both companies will collaborate to advance a preclinical gene therapy candidate for HD.
Per the financial terms, Novartis will make an upfront payment of $100 million to Voyager, including a $20 million purchase of newly issued equity in Voyager.
Voyager is also 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 that incorporate its TRACER capsids.
In lieu, Novartis will obtain target-exclusive access to Voyager’s TRACER capsids related to SMA for the duration of the agreement and will be responsible for all development and commercialization activities.
Novartis will also receive worldwide rights to Voyager’s adeno-associated virus gene therapy for HD, leveraging VYGR’s TRACER capsids and proprietary payloads. While Voyager will be responsible for preclinical advancement, Novartis will be responsible for all clinical development and commercialization of the HD program.
Shares of Voyager skyrocketed more than 30% in pre-market trading on the deal announcement. The funds received will extend the company’s runway into mid-2026. The gains pared and shares were up 6.6% at the end of trading on Jan 2.
Shares of Voyager have lost 20% in the past six months against the industry’s growth of 0.4%.
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
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.
We remind investors that Novartis entered a license option agreement with Voyager in 2022 for three capsids to use in potential gene therapies for neurological diseases, with options to access capsids for two other targets.
Capsids are protein shells that enclose the genetic material of the virus used in developing a gene therapy.
In addition to leveraging TRACER Capsids in potential licensing arrangements, VYGR is advancing its proprietary pipeline of drug candidates for neurological diseases, with a focus on Alzheimer’s disease (“AD”). The company’s prioritized pipeline programs include superoxide dismutase 1 or SOD1, gene therapy for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and an anti-tau antibody for AD.
On the other hand, Novartis has Zolgensma, a gene therapy for pediatric patients with SMA, in its portfolio.
Gene therapies are in focus with the recent FDA approval of bluebird bio’s lovotibeglogene autotemcel (lovo-cel) for the treatment of sickle cell disease (“SCD”) in patients aged 12 and older who have a history of vaso-occlusive events. The FDA approved lovo-cel under the brand name Lyfgenia.
Concurrently, the FDA also approved Vertex Pharmaceuticals and CRISPR Therapeutics’ exagamglogene autotemcel, a CRISPR/Cas9 genome-edited cell therapy, for the treatment of SCD in patients 12 years and older with recurrent vaso-occlusive crises under the brand name Casgevy.
Voyager currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).
Some better-ranked stocks in the healthcare sector are Entrada Therapeutics (TRDA - Free Report) and Dynavax Technologies (DVAX - Free Report) . TRDA sports a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), while DVAX carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) at present. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.
Entrada’s loss per share estimate for 2023 has narrowed from $2.07 to 9 cents in the past 60 days. The same for 2024 has narrowed from $2.35 to $2.04 during the same time frame.
Dynavax’s loss per share estimate for 2023 has narrowed from 23 cents to 12 cents in the past 90 days. The bottom-line estimate for 2024 rose from 3 cents to 18 cents during the same period. Shares of DVAX have risen 12.5% in the past six months.