Voyager Therapeutics jumps on deal to develop gene therapies with Neurocrine

Voyager Therapeutics

09/01/2023 13:39

** Shares of Voyager Therapeutics Inc  VYGR.O  rise ~38% to
$9.57 premarket
    ** Co and Neurocrine Biosciences Inc  NBIX.O  announce an
agreement for developing gene therapies for treatment of 
neurological diseases
    ** Voyager to receive upfront payment of $175 million from
Neurocrine, up to $1.5 billion in milestone payments and certain
royalties 
    ** Upfront payment includes purchase of ~$39 million of
newly issued equity in Voyager at $8.88/shr; represents a
premium of 37.5% over VYGR's last close 
    ** Neurocrine will receive worldwide rights to Voyager's
GBA1 gene therapy program for Parkinson's disease and other
diseases caused due to mutations in a gene called GBA1,
companies say
    ** Cos say they have also agreed to collaborate on three new
gene therapy programs directed towards rare central nervous
system targets
    ** VYGR shares gained ~125% in 2022, while NBIX shares
gained ~40% 
 (Reporting by Raghav Mahobe)
 ((Raghav.Mahobe@thomsonreuters.com;))