Shares of a small biotech called Voyager Therapeutics
jumped 43% in the premarket hours on Wednesday after the company said Pfizer had licensed access to its gene therapy technology in a deal worth up to $630 million.
According to Voyager (ticker: VYGR), Pfizer will pay $30 million up front for options to use proteins known as capsids developed by Voyager in its gene therapy programs. The capsids are shells that coat the viruses used to deliver genetic material as part of a gene therapy. Voyager’s technology identifies capsids designed to more effectively deliver the viruses to targeted parts of the body.
In addition to the $30 million upfront payment, Pfizer could pay another $20 million within 12 months of signing to exercise two options, and Voyager could earn up to $580 million in milestone payments if the company moves forward with a product. Voyager would also earn royalties if a product using the capsids were to make it to market.
Voyager said earlier this year that it was focusing on its program to develop capsids for adeno-associated viruses, or AAV, the viral vectors used in gene therapies.
“Our collaboration with Voyager will provide Pfizer with access to additional AAV capsids that may help further advance our industry-leading gene therapy portfolio,” said Seng Cheng, chief scientific officer of Pfizer’s rare disease research unit, in a statement from Voyager. “We are impressed with Voyager’s results to date.”
The deal comes after a bit of a rough patch for Voyager. Shares of the company were down 65.5% so far this year as of Tuesday’s market close, after falling nearly 50% in 2020. The company’s gene therapy programs had hit stumbling blocks, and in February of this year, Voyager announced that its partner Neurocrine Biosciences
(NBIX) had decided to terminate a collaboration on a Parkinson’s disease gene therapy.
The company swapped CEOs this spring, and its market value was just $97.1 million as of the close of the market on Tuesday.
The company calls the technology it uses to identify capsids TRACER. “This transaction highlights the potential of our TRACER platform to identify novel AAV capsids that target desired cells and tissues with greater specificity at lower doses and with fewer off-target risks than conventional AAV serotypes,” said Voyager’s interim CEO, Michael Higgins, in a statement.
Voyager says that its capsids are better at penetrating the blood-brain-barrier, among other things, compared with other capsids. The deal will give Pfizer access to capsids that are intended to target the central nervous system and the heart.
Shares of Pfizer (PFE) were down 0.9% in premarket trading amid a renewed selloff of Covid-19 vaccine maker shares. S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial Average futures were down 0.9% and 0.7%, respectively, in recent trading.
Write to Josh Nathan-Kazis at [email protected]
