US biotech company Voyager Therapeutics announced last night that it had entered into a licensing and strategic collaboration agreement with Swiss healthcare giant Novartis.

The agreement covers Voyager's adeno-associated virus (AAV) capsid technology, an RNA-based screening platform that can penetrate the blood-brain barrier and act on the central nervous system (CNS).

The aim is to develop new gene therapies dedicated to the treatment of Huntington's disease and spinal muscular atrophy (SMA), two severe neurogenetic disorders.

Voyager Therapeutics - which will provide Novartis with access to its 'Tracer' capsid platform and other proprietary patents - will receive an upfront payment of $20 million in the form of an equity investment from Novartis.

Including milestone payments and royalties on potential product sales, the agreement could be worth up to $1.2 billion.

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