AbbVie upscales Voyager alliance with new target, more cash

AbbVie has extended its collaboration with gene therapy specialist Voyager Therapeutics, adding a new programme in Parkinson’s disease and another $1.5 billion in potential fees. The two started working together on “vectorized” antibodies targeting tau protein for Alzheimer’s disease around a year ago. Now, AbbVie wants to tap Voyager’s expertise in Parkinson’s and other central nervous system diseases with antibodies that target a misfolded protein. Voyager’s approach involves developing adeno-associated virus (AAV) vectors that can transfer gene sequences coding for therapeutic antibodies into the CNS, allowing the drugs to be produced in situ rather than dosed systemically. In the latest project, the antibodies target alpha-synuclein, a protein that aggregates into clumps in the brain in Parkinson’s as well as other neurodegenerative diseases such as Lewy body dementia and multiple system atrophy (MSA). AbbVie is paying $65 million in upfront cash, another $245 million tied to a phase I programme and opt-in payments, plus $728 million in development milestones for each vectorized alpha-synuclein antibody that proceeds through development. Also on offer is up to $500 million in commercial milestones plus royalties for each antibody.