Voyager Therapeutics Reports Robust Preclinical Activity in Tau Silencing Gene Therapy Program for Alzheimer’s Disease and Advances Program into Late Research

- Additional new data demonstrate VY-TAU01, Voyager’s lead antibody targeting pathological tau, was well-tolerated and demonstrated favorable pharmacokinetics in non-human primates (NHPs) -

- Data to be presented at the 2024 International Conference on Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s Diseases and Related Neurological Disorders (AD/PD 2024) -

LEXINGTON, Mass., Feb. 20, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Voyager Therapeutics, Inc. (Nasdaq: VYGR), a biotechnology company dedicated to advancing neurogenetic medicines, today announced new data from its two preclinical programs targeting pathological tau for the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease. Data on VY-TAU01, Voyager’s lead anti-tau antibody candidate, and on Voyager’s tau silencing gene therapy program will be presented at the upcoming 2024 International Conference on Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s Diseases and Related Neurological Disorders (AD/PD 2024), taking place March 5-9, 2024, in Lisbon, Portugal.

Tau Silencing Gene Therapy Program:

• Intravenous administration of BBB-penetrant AAV containing primary artificial microRNA targeting tau reduces tau broadly and robustly in hTau mouse brain. Wencheng Liu, Ph.D., Poster P0783/#2852.
  

The data demonstrate that a single intravenous (IV) administration of one of Voyager’s tau silencing gene therapy candidates in mice expressing human tau resulted in broad AAV distribution across multiple brain regions and dose-dependent reductions in tau messenger RNA (mRNA) levels of up to 90%, which were associated with robust reductions in human tau protein levels across the brain. Voyager’s tau silencing gene therapy program combines vectorized tau-targeted siRNA with a proprietary, blood-brain barrier (BBB)-penetrant capsid derived from the Company’s TRACER discovery platform. Based on these data, Voyager has advanced this program into late research and expects to file an investigational new drug (IND) application in 2026.

VY-TAU01 Anti-Tau Antibody:

• Pharmacokinetics and tolerability of VY-TAU01, an anti-tau antibody for the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease, in P301S mouse and nonhuman primate. Wencheng Liu, Ph.D., Poster P0795/#1303.
  

Voyager also will report new preclinical data demonstrating that VY-TAU01, the Company’s lead antibody targeting pathological tau, and Ab-01, its murine surrogate, were well-tolerated and showed favorable pharmacokinetic profiles following IV administration in NHPs and P301S transgenic mice expressing pathological human tau. Voyager continues to anticipate an IND filing for VY-TAU01 in the first half of 2024.