Voyager Therapeutics Snags $60 Million With "Crossover" Investors as Analysts Predict an IPO

Voyager Therapeutics Snags $60 Million With
April 13, 2015
By Krystle Vermes, BioSpace.com Breaking News Staff

The chief executive of Cambridge-based Voyager Therapeutics told BioSpace this week that a new deal announced on April 13 that it had concluded a $60 million Series B financing round with the help of “crossover” investors will help move the company closer to its goals in a still-booming biotech climate.

“A world leader in AAV gene therapy, Voyager’s mission is to bring forward life-changing therapies for patients with CNS disorders like Parkinson’s disease and ALS,” Steven Paul, president and chief executive officer of Voyager, told BioSpace. “With this Series B financing, we have additional funds to expand operations and further invest in our AAV product engine and product pipeline to advance development of these important therapies.”

“Crossover” investors are defined as firms that invest in both public and private companies. Analysts believe that this may be a sign that Voyager could be moving toward an IPO.

Partner Fund Management, Brookside Capital and Casdin Capital led the financing round. Voyager claims that the funds will be used to advance the company’s pipeline. The company has yet to respond to a request for comment.

Voyager recently made a splash this past February when it announced that it had entered a strategic collaboration with Genzyme Corporation. The partnership is dedicated to discovering, commercializing and developing gene therapies for CNS disorders.

Paving the Path to an IPO
Experts speculate that Voyager could soon could public, and it wouldn’t be the first time that a company has done so after a successful funding round. Recently, California-based aTyr Pharma, Inc., announced that it had closed a $76 million Series E funding round on March 31. About one week later, the biopharmaceutical company revealed that it had filed for an initial public offering with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

Following the Series E financing round, the aTyr Pharma Inc.’s comments were similar to Voyager’s statements – the company claimed that it would be further developing its pipeline with the money.

“The proceeds from this financing, led by top-tier biotechnology institutional investors, will help support the development of our lead clinical candidate Resolaris and its Phase Ib/II trial for patients with facioscapulohumeral muscular dystrophy, as well as expansion to additional indications,” said John Mendlein, CEO and executive chairman of aTyr Pharma, at the time of the announcement.

The company bases its work on physiocrines, which are naturally occurring proteins that play a role in protein synthesis. It uses physiocrines to restore diseased tissue to a healthy state.

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