Novartis is to explore new ways of delivering gene therapies to the brain under a licence option agreement with Voyager Therapeutics Inc, a US company with adeno-associated virus (AAV) capsid technology. Under the agreement, the Swiss multinational may elect to license novel capsids for use in directing therapies against three undisclosed central nervous system (CNS) targets. Further out, it may exercise options for two additional targets. The goal is to develop gene therapies for neurological diseases that manifest in deep regions of the brain.
