Q3 2022 Voyager Therapeutics Inc Earnings Call
Okay.
Good morning, and welcome to Voyager Therapeutics third quarter 2022 conference call. All participants are now in listen only mode. There will be a question and answer session. At the end of this call. Please be advised that the call is being recorded at the company's request a replay of today's call will be available on the investors section of the company website approximately two.
Hours after the completion of the call I would now like to turn the call over to Pete <unk> Chief Financial Officer.
Thank you and good morning, we issued our third quarter financial results press release this morning.
The press release and 10-Q are available on our website.
We plan to be very efficient in today's call Accordingly, we.
We are going to provide a brief summary of key highlights from the quarter.
And reserve the majority of time for your Q&A.
In a moment I will turn over the call to al.
Before I do this.
I want to remind everyone that during this call.
Your representatives may make forward looking statements regarding future expectations plans and prospects.
All forward looking statements are inherently uncertain and subject to risks and uncertainties.
That may cause actual results to differ materially from those indicated by these forward looking.
These statements.
You are encouraged to review and understand a number of the material risks and uncertainties facing the company.
As described in the Companys annual report on Form 10-K filed with the SEC as updated by subsequent SEC filings, including the company's most recent quarterly report on Form 10-Q filed this morning.
All SEC filings are available on the company's website.
Now it is my pleasure to turn open the call.
Voyagers Chief Executive Officer.
Dr Al Sandrock.
Thank you Pete and good morning, everyone.
I'd like to start by summarizing <unk> investment thesis.
Voyager is a biotechnology company dedicated to breaking through barriers in gene therapy and neurology.
Potential both disciplines have been constrained by delivery challenges.
In therapy has been limited by narrow therapeutic window associated safety issues.
They are all day is limited by the difficulties of getting a larger molecules across the blood brain barrier.
At Voyager, we are leveraging cutting edge expertise and capsid discovery and deep neuropharmacology capability to address speed and strength, which.
Which we believe will ultimately create significant value for patients and shareholders.
We have created three pillars of value at Voyager.
First our tracer capsid discovery platform is generating breakthrough casters to fuel, both our own pipeline and that of partners, including Neurocrine, Pfizer and novartis with significant potential for future partnerships.
At the core of tracer.
Bioterror expression driven in vivo screening system.
This has allowed our team to evaluate more than 20 million variance.
AAV, five and AAV capsid and select only those campuses that display decreased transduction in the target organs.
We have started by targeting the central nervous system and in preclinical studies, we have demonstrated more than 100 fold higher transgene expression in the brain compared to conventional AAV capsid.
We have also demonstrated blood brain barrier penetration across multiple species, including mice and nonhuman primates, which increases our confidence that we may be able to translate these properties breakeven.
At ESG.
Last month, we presented data on our novel capsid.
Demonstrated high levels of CNS gene expression when administered intravenously in the range of 220% of the doses used by conventional capsules potential.
Potentially improving the therapeutic window of gene therapies.
Further we presented data characterizing our novel cell surface receptor for one of our cast as families and we confirm the analogous function and expression of this receptor in humans.
In the near term this discovery further increases our confidence that the preclinical results. We are seeing may translate into human clinical trials.
In the longer term this receptor could enable reverse engineering.
Further enhance the cash thats generated by our <unk> platform.
In addition, we have begun experiments to explore whether we may be able to leverage this sector to enable the delivery of therapeutic modalities, such as protein and oligonucleotides across the blood brain barrier.
If successful could constitute a new platform for CNS drug development.
The novel Capsid derived from traits that are have attracted the interest of multiple partners, including Pfizer and Novartis and additional discussions are ongoing with multiple pharmaceutical companies.
By his decision in September to exercise their option triggered a $10 million of revenue and $30 million and deferred revenue in Q3 2022.
Our second pillar of value is our transformative CNS pipeline.
I will review our progress with back in the pipeline in just a minute.
I want to call out that each of our three lead programs are directed against targets validated by human genetics and human biology.
Moreover, they exploit the availability of biomarkers to enable us to quickly and efficiently achieved proof of biology.
As we said in our Q2 call. We expect to identify lead candidate later this year and into the first half of next year laying the foundation for IND filings in 2024 and 2025.
We also note we are targeting serious life threatening diseases that creates significant burden for patients and caregivers all famous disease, Parkinson's disease, and a minor trophic lateral sclerosis, our AOS.
Our third pillar of value is our sound balance sheet enabled by our track record of generating non dilutive partnership revenue.
As of September 32022, we reported cash cash equivalents and marketable securities of $132 million.
Our balance sheet position, along with the amounts expected to be received as reimbursement for the development costs under the narrow credit collaborations are expected to be sufficient to meet noisier as planned operating expenses and capital expenditure requirements into 2024.
Pfizer's exercise of its licensing agreement triggered a $10 million.
Payment in Q4 2022.
Additionally, the potential option exercised by Novartis prior to the option expiration date in Q1 2023.
With enhanced the company's operating runway further.
The company has no debt obligations to third parties.
I want to make one more point here.
Which is that our captive licenses are structured around its target lactic acid.
Once our partners select 13 of interest we don't work with anybody else on that Jim.
But it is entirely possible that multiple partners may select the same capsid and we may also select the capsid for some of our own internal programs.
The benefits of this structure are twofold first because the deals are not exclusive to the apps that we have the optionality, we continue to pursue partnerships.
Second some of our partners do choose cast that we also utilized in our own programs. They may provide initial clinical validation of our taxes.
I want to dig a bit deeper into the pipeline now.
Voyager continues to advance our three prioritized programs, a humanized anti tau antibody for all farmers disease.
<unk> gene silencing for AOS and GTA, one gene replacement for Parkinson's disease.
In addition to these three programs.
To remind you that we have a collaboration ongoing with neurocrine to develop a gene therapy for free Greg State tax year, which Neurocrine is currently funding through phase one.
At that point Voyager has an option to co develop and co commercialize the asset in the U S. At a 40 60 cost and profit split with 40% coming to Voyager.
Or to grant Neurocrine full global commercial rights in exchange for milestones and royalties.
Our Tau antibody program is being developed as an IV delivered passenger immunotherapies.
Search is channel that pathophysiology propagate across certain brain regions.
Ill now in pattern in Alzheimer's disease.
The spread of Tau pathology can be monitored with <unk> imaging and we plan to use this biomarker to establish early proof of biology.
Our therapeutic hypothesis is that an antibody targeting <unk>.
<unk> locked in neurons and neuron spread.
At several plausible extra cellular sites.
Our antibody is differentiated from other antibody that has not demonstrated clinical efficacy in that our antibody targets. The <unk> terminal rather than the end terminal region.
And it has been shown in preclinical models to significantly reduce the spread of pathological path.
We are on track with our work to <unk>.
Reactivate.
Moving now to the GBA Parkinson's disease.
Up to 10% of Parkinson's disease patients, having you taken in GTA one the most common genetic risk factor increasing the risk of disease approximately 2004.
DBA, one encodes the lysosomal enzymes glucose to reap a sideways or GE case, and we believe restoration of Gk's in Parkinson's patients with GBA when mutations will have therapeutic benefit.
Dk level can be measured in CFS as Kansas substrates, a database that are abnormally elevated in GBA carriers due to the loss of function mutation.
These biomarkers provide a potential path to early clinical development the risky.
Our approach combines the gea, one gain replacement with the CNS trophic.
ABB penetrates novel Tracer derived capsid.
NH feed studies to select our lead candidate are underway.
And now <unk> AOS.
AOS is a rapidly progressing neurodegenerative disease that typically leads to death approximately three years after diagnosis.
We believe that by silencing expression of the <unk> in the CNS, we can provide therapeutic benefit to patients, but thats sort of behind mutations.
Proof of concept for this approach has been demonstrated by the <unk>, an investigational drug sponsored by Biogen Ni owners, which is currently under review by FDA.
So the one is measurable in CSF and can serve as a biomarker for early efficient proof of biology in a small clinical study.
<unk> light chain will also be metric to determine whether or not there is a signal of efficacy.
Our approach combines a potent <unk> construct with the CNS Trophy blood brain barrier penetration novel tracer derived capsid.
And HP studies to select our lead candidate are underway.
We continue to expect to identify lead development candidates for all three programs between Q4, 2022 and H one 2023.
These lead candidates will then be advance into IND, enabling studies to support IND filings expected in 2024 and 2025.
I also want to note on this slide that we have several partnerships using novel traits or generate cash.
As I mentioned above any progress by our partners may provide EBIT earlier clinical validation.
In summary, we believe Voyager has demonstrated strong validation of our ability to execute during the third quarter and the subsequent period.
And the company is gaining momentum as we close out 2022 and look towards 2023.
In addition to advancing our pipeline, we continue to build out our board of directors as well as our executive team.
We appointed Dr. <unk> Mackie to our board.
We also added Pete <unk> as CFO interest of Morrison, our senior Vice President of corporate Affairs.
And we promoted Dr. Todd Carter to Chief Scientific Officer.
We also presented encouraging preclinical data at the AIC and ESG conferences, those posters or on our website. If you haven't seen them.
And we saw further validation of our tracer platform from Pfizer's decision to exercise its option.
Looking forward, we continue our work to breakthrough the barriers constraining the field of gene therapy and neurology.
We look forward to identifying lead candidates for our three pipeline programs between the end of this year in the first half of next year and we will keep you updated as we advance towards IND.
We will continue to share the exciting data we have generated at scientific conferences.
We also have the initial novartis option exercise decision coming up by March of next year.
I want to take a moment to acknowledge everyone on the Voyager team.
<unk> CEO of this company for about seven months now and I'm. So excited to be working with such an incredibly talented scientists and other professionals.
With that we're happy to take any questions you may have.
Joining me today for the Q&A are Brian <unk>, our CFO and Dr. Tom Carter, our Chief Scientific Officer.
Operator.
Thank you at this time, we will conduct a question and answer session. As a reminder to ask a question you will need to press star one on your telephone and wait for your name to be announced please standby, while we compile the Q&A roster.
Our first question comes from Jack Allen with Baird. Please go ahead.
Hi, Thank you so much for taking my questions and congratulations to the team on the progress throughout the quarter and Pete and Todd for the new roles as well.
I guess my first question was around the selection of the development candidates moving forward I.
I was wondering if you can provide any color as you look to select the development candidate is around how youre thinking about capsid selection.
Where to begin.
You're going to have an overlapping captive strategy or would you look to kind of diversify within the captive library of tracer copy that you have for different opex a bit here any thoughts as it relates correct.
Thanks, Jack this is al.
And I'll start and I'm sure you probably don't want to jump in but look.
We havent absent profiles for each of our programs.
Sure.
Scientists said these are the characteristics that are ideal for this disease.
Depends on which cells need to be transduce, what regions in the brain et cetera, and also targeting issues.
And so we will select the best capsid.
Now it may be that there are obviously advantages if we use the same capsid for multiple diseases.
Certainly manufacturing for example, but.
But I think our approach is we wanted to use the very best capsid for the patients.
We can treat.
The patients in the most optimal way.
Scott I think you've captured it quite well thank you Todd.
Great and then if I could just ask one follow up on the appetite for future partnerships you've had another remark on the call that you have ongoing conversations.
And those conversations have been going on for quite a bit I'd love to hear any thoughts as to how the conversations are going in.
How investors should think about potential near term updates as it relates to the additional future partnerships.
Yes Jack.
We are having ongoing conversations with multiple parties.
And brokerage business.
Open to <unk>.
We are certainly on our capsid.
Because.
Look everybody else sees that we're breaking barriers to.
For gene therapy so.
And we're also.
Partnering on our programs either programs or caps is we're open to anything really.
And so.
I have to say is as for myself I am enjoying these conversations.
Any of them with former colleagues.
Great I'll jump back in the queue, but thanks, so much for the question.
Thank you one moment for our next question.
Our next question comes from Phil Nadeau with Cowen. Please go ahead.
Good morning, Thanks for taking my questions follow up on the selection of the we can make them.
With the GBA one in San Juan.
Therapies can you talk a bit more about what measures you are able to capture in the nonhuman primates.
Select between candidates is it simply transduction of certain areas in safety or their biomarkers and other measures that will inform your decision.
Todd you want to take that sure so yes.
Answer to your question is what we're looking at a number of things go.
With the gene therapy, they look at Victor distribution, where it is.
Therapy, Joe we look at the level of expression of that sector. So we're looking not only at <unk>.
Rose.
The level.
In the case of PPA.
This activity.
Team the enzymatic activity in the case of San Juan.
S program the amount of knockdown, we achieved in the relevant brain regions. We also look at where we hope to not go so the off target tissues that al mentioned earlier the captives.
So if you look at all of those components. In addition for something like TBA.
And the other departments such as the cerebral spinal fluid for delivery.
Into that space as a marker at correlate for how much transaction or delivery, we get into the brain and thats something that were hoping to ease as we move forward into the clinic as well.
And just my follow up in your experience how predictive is the.
And HP model of what happens.
Impairments I appreciate that's probably the best model that we have.
Much uncertainty remains after you see these measures in hps.
Well.
So for our novel Capsid novel candidates.
<unk> identified a receptor for <unk> family, which we think gives us increased translate ability to humans, but until we actually do to the human experiment, we won't know for sure.
I think that the delivery of the in the case of something like TBA, well get a correlation between our brain delivery CSF delivery, which we think should be translatable to humans.
But we won't know for sure until we get to the human experiment.
I agree with that we won't know for sure.
Due to the human proof of biology trials.
In terms of I think your question was about whether or not we can rely on the biomarker readouts that we're getting from the NIH studies.
And.
I think we can enlarge part.
I mean.
For these kinds of things, we need to use larger animals.
Using rodents can be approved or because of the distances.
Volumes.
Just don't.
Match up very well, but nonhuman primates because of their larger size. The dimensions are relatively similar to the volumes of for example, CSF space frame approximate the human better than mice.
But there's nothing like a real human experiments to get.
To be absolutely sure as Todd said.
That's very helpful. Thanks for taking our questions.
Thank you one moment for our next question.
Sure.
Our next question comes from Jan and deal with Wells Fargo. Please go ahead.
Hello, Thanks for taking a question <unk> Kwon for Yamana.
Two questions one on REIT sector, you identify and one on the KFC. So first on the receptor can you can you share like how countries Kennedy.
A receptor you identify express among individuals and do we do now cost factors may affect.
The expression levels of the receptor and second on the cap seat. So after your partner <unk>.
Alright.
Sharon do you further optimize the cap seats for them or are they just use.
The cap rates that are already available in your library alright. Thank you.
So on the receptor I'm going to ask Bob to to answer that and then later I'll ask Pete to answer the question about the cabinet business.
Houston.
For the.
Great.
<unk> receptor.
The receptor responsible for BBB penetration.
In terms of the delivery, what we're seeing in animal models.
And the non human primates in rodents we're.
We are seeing expression in those species expressing human beings.
<unk>.
Don't have readouts, yet on variability amongst different humans.
Expressed and expressed in the aerial cells in the CNS attainment as it is.
Abbott model species as well.
So we're focused on those aspects and the ability of its too.
Yes.
The human receptor.
Yes.
Transduce and improve BBB penetration in our models as well.
Yes, maybe.
If I could just add I mean, I think you're asking the second order question, which is a really interesting question, which I think relates to individual variability with MSP and.
That's a second order question.
We'll get there but.
But we don't know the answer to that yet and then with respect to the second question I was going to ask Peter to talk about it because it relates to the actual agreement.
<unk>.
The company.
<unk>.
My understanding is that after they choose a capsid.
Up to two years to switch out to another caps and so as we iterate.
And develop more and more as sort of second and third generation capsid. They will of course, we share that data with them and they have the option to choose <unk>.
We're one.
Which maybe Mitch made more fit with their purposes. So that's how the deal was structured to mine to my knowledge.
No I think you captured it quite well with regards to the way that deals.
Deals were actually structured themselves.
Got it thank you so much.
Okay.
Thank you one moment for our next question.
Okay.
Our next question comes from Laura Chico with Wedbush. Please go ahead.
Hey, good morning, guys. Thanks for taking the question.
First one the FDA recently released final CNS gene therapy guidance, just curious if there was anything that stood out to you relative to the prior draft guidance for any impact to how youre thinking about development campaign and then second.
You mentioned the cash runway on some of the flexibility there.
<unk> potential milestone payments, but I'm wondering kind of what sort of upper bound does that provide you in cash runway or are there other levers that you can pull up besides the milestones to extend runway thanks very much.
Thanks, Laura.
ASP.
Answer the question about the cash runway, but before that.
Any thoughts on the new guidance.
So I think what we're seeing and what we've seen over the past several years.
Particularly in the past couple of the consistent theme from the field in general and with the FDA.
Very interested about.
Concerned about safety.
In terms of making sure that the there's a therapeutic window.
I think that there is also the <unk>.
Insight from the FDA that they are very encouraged by the progress thats been made in the field and so it helped to outline ways.
These forward of identifying the path into the clinics for gene therapies. So we're very excited by the <unk>.
<unk> and the collaborative spirit at the FDA.
And moving programs forward.
Okay.
So Laura with regards to your second question with regards to cash runway.
I think al characterized basically our balance sheet positioned quite well in his opening remarks, we believe the company is well capitalized with regards to where we're at.
As we noted in our third quarter operating results the Pfizer monies.
Not included in the $132 million that were on our balance sheet is closed at 930.
I believe that there was additional Pfizer monies in addition to.
<unk> reimbursements associated with Neurocrine.
And other potential milestones that could come downstream, specifically associated with the Novartis option agreement, which comes due.
In March of next year.
It could potentially extend the cash runway as you were alluding to.
As we've described the street.
The novartis option. They do have an option on three separate capsid programs each and every one of those programs actually would come with it would trigger a $12 $5 million per each option.
So that could be a total of $37 5 million.
We believe that potentially those could be struck although we're not guiding to any of those at this time.
In addition to that 37 $5 billion.
<unk> also has the option to take on two additional cap sit options as well.
So those could be for an additional $18 million per each of those options.
Totaled $36 million again at this time, we're not guiding with regards to where that's going to go.
All of those things could potentially extend the cash runway at the organization as.
As we got in the quarter, we still believe that we've got share cash runway to take us into 2024 and I do believe al.
Earlier on also alluded to that we're having ongoing.
In conversations with regards to business development opportunities.
All of those things could potentially add to the cash runway as well I do want to highlight for all of the analysts that are on the call today, we did put up a new shelf today.
Well as an ATM.
Our existing shelf Vmware actually expiring December 2nd of this year.
We feel like it's always good prudent to make sure that you have current shelf in place.
As well as an ATM I think that's normal operating procedure for biotech companies. These days and again all of those things could help us as we think about the future of the business and finance member work.
Sure.
That's super helpful. Maybe if I could sneak one more in then.
Just how should we be thinking directionally about R&D expense in 'twenty three relative to 'twenty two.
It's still early stages, but kind of ramping up some effort.
Any clarity there thanks.
Yes, Thats a good question I think you can most probably see from our operating results for the first nine months of this year that were basically on a trajectory to kind of close this year somewhere between call. It.
$75 million to $80 million basically operating burn for fiscal 'twenty. Two I think as we think forward towards 'twenty three we don't provide definitive guidance with regards to 'twenty three operating burn.
But I do think the one thing I could say to the street is that we're going to be very mindful of our cash runway and our burn.
We're going to be very prudent with regards to our capital investment so for now.
Just to start next year I think we can think about 'twenty three kind of following suit with 22, but again no specific guidance there.
Got it thank you very much guys.
Thank you one moment for our next question.
Our next question comes from Ian <unk> with BTG. Please go ahead.
Oh sure.
Hello.
Hi.
Hello. Thank you, yes, you are right. Okay, great. Thank you very much for taking the question and so hard.
<unk> and DRG toxicity, sorry targeting.
Targeting built into the capsid sorry.
Tracer platform please and.
One question is.
How important is <unk> targeting for IV if youre.
Taking two IV approach.
This is al.
It is very important I think there is precedence for IV delivered capsid.
To produce DRG toxicity.
And so.
We do think it's important.
An important attribute of the cabinets that we have.
Identified so far that while they increased stroke.
And delivery into into the CNS.
We see D targeting with some of these gaps of the dorsal root ganglion exactly what we would want that's increased.
Transduction in the south that we want to transduce unless in the south that we'd rather not.
I would point out that DRG toxicity does seem to be expression related.
And so I think it's great that we have some caps that the target dorsal root ganglion neurons.
Okay. So another question is I believe you started from AAV nine given maybe potency and crossing the blood brain barrier, but you added AAV five and is that is.
Is the main reason.
The advantage of.
In terms of pre existing neutralizing antibody and also.
Pre existing neutralizing antibody is the level normally consistent across wildcard capsid and the variant that you identified through the <unk> platform. Please thank you.
Yes.
Great question, So we actually did.
Youth, both AAV nine in AAV.
<unk>.
As our starting cabinets.
Tracer platform and Youre right. The reason why we added AAV five nine.
<unk> has been sort of a king of neurotrophic cabinets. So we wanted to improve on the very best ones that we have.
<unk> five has the attribute that there's many fewer patients that have preexisting antibodies. So the numbers of patients we could treat increases quite substantially.
By using AAV.
And we have and we can actually.
Your question about the Immunogenicity of novel Capsid, we can actually test had too.
We now.
Have access to two patients Sara.
Antibodies.
That are pre existing and we can test whether our novel capsid.
<unk>.
More or less immunogenicity relative to their current caps, Don do you want to add anything yes. Thanks al.
Is everything outside.
I'll add that with the changes that we're making to the AAV capsid the benign in AAV side. In this case, we don't expect there to be specific alterations in the utilization activity in the population, but those particular families.
Are excited by the prospect that tracer could be our platform.
Define these novel caps can also be deployed to identify candidates with less pre existing utilization activity. So we're looking forward to that work in the future.
And.
Excluding far with our cabinet platform.
Great. Thank you very much.
Thank you one moment for our next question.
Our next question comes from Dane Leone with Raymond James. Please go ahead.
Hi, Thanks for taking my questions and congrats on all the progress.
So.
Somewhat in a similar vein of question, but I'll ask it kind of a different way.
I think it might be helpful.
There was there was an interesting aspect of the work on on a sudden hygiene Abbott part of that.
You had two patients that unfortunately passed away.
And they were able to be.
Evaluated for.
Vector DNA and also the protein expression.
The SMN protein.
By by different organs.
When you're when you're optimizing these capsid and what youre trying to predict of the bio distribution and the tropism.
I guess Theres a couple of angles here I mean do you think there is really an ability to dial in where the vector DNA is localizing, obviously in the case of <unk>.
<unk> was there was a lot in the liver which created.
Some of the toxicity management that happen, but there is also vector DNA across pretty much all the major organs.
Although the SMN protein really what's more localized.
The expression around the spinal motor neurons. So I guess there is two things here like how much can you actually dial in where.
Where the Doctor DNR, what's hanging out and potentially.
The income toxicity versus the actual protein expression of factor.
Yes.
That's central to a lot of what we're thinking about it in terms of safety and so.
So the great thing about our capsid synthetic can you can help us.
With delivery of DNA to various cells right and that's why we're excited by the <unk> targeting data that we have.
And we can look at both messenger RNA and ourselves as well as DNA and we actually look at it.
Mrna and protein.
When we get to the point of choosing capsid. So we can look at all three.
And as you pointed out some of the toxicity is expression related and some may be SMN protein expression related.
Now by the paper from Columbia, a few years ago.
Some of it may not be expression related some may be simply immunogenicity versus the capsid.
And perhaps other other ways.
That gene therapy can be toxic so we have to consider all of these.
Potential.
Avenues by which toxicity can be can be.
Displayed.
I think having <unk>.
Novel Capsid derived from tracer that can target organs is very helpful.
That with promoter selection.
We can certainly really fine tune expression.
A level that.
That is potentially unprecedented.
And so Tom do you have anything to add to that I think the key one of the key aspects is that mrna based readout from our <unk> platform and so we're not just looking at G&A delivery outlets, making a successful with the tracer platform as we really hone in on that mrna expression level. In addition to the DNA delivery.
So we look at multiple tissues, all the tissues, you would imagine and probably some more.
Elliott, our cats and build our cash profiles for different indications.
<unk>.
So we really do try to build that profile and to identify the capsid.
Yes.
Our profile will give us the therapeutic window, we need the other component is there are a couple of different ways. When we think about that targeting a particular tissue or cell type and E targeting others.
One is is literally we get more in where we wanted and we get less in where we don't want to the other context is if we can.
Proves the potency getting to the target tissue and we can lower the dose, which also in and of itself reduces the delivery to our off target tissues and so we have both of those opportunities in our trading platform.
Thank you.
Thank you one moment for our next question.
Yes.
Our next question comes from Chemo Kulkarni with Canaccord Genuity. Please go ahead.
Good morning, Thanks for taking my question.
One on the novel cell surface receptor that they've identified Guinea that appeared to be some advantages related to CNS bio distribution.
Any specific already know downside capsid binding did that specific receptor.
Not quite I'm not sure I understood. The second sentence can you repeat the second part of your question.
Utilizing this receptor to get to the sponsor.
Any kind of toxic.
Toxicity downsides anything like that that are already known and how might you be able to manage around that.
So I think the question was.
Are there is there anything known about this receptor that we that we would potentially even need to manage around that does that the question.
Yes, exactly thanks.
Yes, yes, so right now.
We don't know of anything that we would need to manage around.
So.
So.
I'll just leave it at that.
Got it thank you.
Yes.
Thank you one moment for our next question.
Yes.
Sure.
Our next question comes from Jack Allen with Baird. Please go ahead.
Alright. Thank you so much for taking the follow up I know.
It's hard to comment for your partners, but as it relates to getting proof of concept data I'd love to hear any thoughts you may have as it relates to the potential progress at pfizer's programs and any programs that are operated by.
Novartis as well.
The timing of those candidates moving through the clinic the pathway.
Yes, Jack so.
Boy I wish I could tell you.
No.
They are the lead for these programs and.
And I'm sure they'll tell us all of us when.
When the time is right and when they get more specificity around the timelines, but we can be specific relatively specific about our own plans.
But.
You have to let our partners to specifics about theirs.
Great and then just one brief follow up al I know, you've been really close with the Alzheimers space.
That is around the corner here and I think they're going to be some interesting beta amyloid data that's expected.
Generally there's the beta amyloid development.
Any impact on your plans for the Tau antibody I would love to hear your thoughts.
It's a good question. So I do think that I've only read the press release.
From Biogen and it does sound and asos.
This does sound like very exciting times for Alzheimers disease treatments.
I think personally I think we're on the <unk>.
Both new treatments for Alzheimer's disease, which which I think is very welcome because certainly the patients need something more than the currently available therapies. So.
How it impacts.
Art anti Tau program.
What I would note is that in the field of Alzheimer's disease.
Randy.
Theres always been learnings from previous studies.
That we use.
The field has benefited from both failures than successes in the past and so I'm looking forward to seeing the data at <unk> in a few weeks and I'm sure there'll be learnings from that that we will incorporate into our own program.
Yes.
Alright, thanks, so much for taking the follow ups.
Okay.
Thank you I'm showing no further questions at this time I'd now like to turn it back to Dr. Al Sandrock for closing remarks.
Well I just wanted to say thank you everyone for joining us and for asking us some very interesting and important questions. Appreciate you being on the call.
Okay.
Thank you for your participation in today's conference. This concludes the program you may now disconnect.
Okay.
Yes.
The conference will begin shortly.
As Johan during Q&A, you can dial star one one.
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Okay.
Yes.
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