AbbVie and Voyager form Parkinson’s pact

AbbVie has struck a second partnership with the neuroscience-focused gene-therapy firm Voyager Therapeutics. AbbVie is paying Voyager $65 million up front to develop gene therapies that contain instructions for making antibodies against the α-synuclein protein that accumulates in the brains of people with Parkinson’s disease. Voyager could earn up to $245 million in milestone payments after preclinical and Phase I clinical studies, and nearly $1.3 billion in added milestone payments. Last year, the two companies formed a similar pact to develop an Alzheimer’s gene therapy.