Jan. 2 Quick Takes: Latest Novartis collaboration lifts Voyager’s value

Novartis AG (SIX:NOVN; NYSE:NVS) will pay $100 million up front for a license to capsids from  Voyager Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ:VYGR) for use in gene therapies for Huntington disease and spinal muscular atrophy. Voyager is eligible to receive $1.2 billion in milestones, plus royalties under the new agreement, which follows a previous deal in which the partners collaborated on therapies against two targets to treat neurological disorders. Voyager said the deal gives it runway into mid-2026. Its shares rose 39% intra-day before closing at $9, up 7%. 

An efficacy signal in a Phase Ib/IIa study of bexicaserin to treat seizure disorders boosted shares of Longboard Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ:LBPH) by 316% on Tuesday. The superagonist of 5-HT2C led to a 53.3% reduction in seizure frequency, compared with 20.8% for placebo, in the 52-participant PACIFIC trial; the study evaluated bexicaserin in patients with developmental and epileptic encephelopathies including Dravet syndrome and Lennox-Gastaut syndrome. Longboard said it will begin planning a Phase III program. Longboard finished the day at $25.10 after hitting a 52-week high of $25.82; its market cap now stands at about $600 million...