BRIEF—Pfizer exercises option on next-gen capsid for rare neuro target

US gene therapy company Voyager Therapeutics said today that Pfizer has exercised its option to license a next-generation capsid generated by Voyager’s TRACER capsid discovery platform in accordance with the agreement announced in October last year.

Voyager’s shares leapt more than 13% to $6.38 in morning trading on the news.

This option exercise, focused on an undisclosed rare neurologic disease target, triggers a $10 million payment to Voyager, with potential for $290 million in development, regulatory and commercialization milestones.

Pfizer’s option exercise offers external validation of Voyager’s TRACER capsids and their potential to help enable gene therapy for neurological diseases, through current and future industry partnerships and also in Voyager’s own pipeline which is targeting Alzheimer’s disease, GBA1 Parkinson’s disease, and SOD1 ALS.

The target under agreement with Pfizer is distinct from those utilized in Voyager’s internal pipeline programs.

Pfizer has elected not to exercise its option to license a capsid for the cardiac target under the original agreement, and all capsid rights for that target are returned to Voyager.

Voyager retains global rights to all licensed capsids for use with other transgenes and to all other applications of its TRACER technology.