AbbVie entered an exclusive global agreement with Voyager Therapeutics to develop vectorised antibodies directed at pathological species of alpha-synuclein for the potential treatment of Parkinson's disease and other diseases characterised by the abnormal accumulation of misfolded alpha-synuclein protein, the companies announced Friday. 

Jim Summers, vice president of discovery neuroscience research at AbbVie, said the new deal "with Voyager represents the potential we see in the ability of its vectorised antibody platform to surpass the blood-brain barrier and more effectively deliver biologic therapies." Last year, AbbVie entered an agreement to use Voyager's adeno-associated viral (AAV) vector technology for the development of antibody therapies directed against tau for the treatment of Alzheimer's disease and other neurodegenerative conditions. 

Under the latest deal, AbbVie will make an upfront cash payment of $65 million to Voyager, with the latter also eligible to earn up to $245 million in preclinical and Phase I option payments. Voyager will conduct research and preclinical development to vectorise antibodies directed against alpha-synuclein as designated by AbbVie, after which AbbVie may select one or more of these to advance. 

Following completion of Phase I development, AbbVie has an option to license the vectorised alpha-synuclein antibody programme for further clinical development, with Voyager eligible to receive up to an additional $728 million in milestone payments for each compound. Moreover, Voyager is eligible to receive tiered royalties on global commercial net sales of each alpha-synuclein vectorised antibody, as well as up to a total of $500 million in commercial milestones. 

According to the drugmakers, Voyager's vectorised antibody platform is designed to overcome the limited ability to deliver sufficient quantities of antibodies across the blood-brain barrier. Specifically, the platform offers the possibility for a "one-time intravenous administration [of] genes that encode for the production of therapeutic antibodies utilising Voyager's blood-brain-barrier penetrant AAV capsids," potentially resulting in "higher levels of therapeutic antibodies in the brain compared with current systemic administration of antibodies."

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