Neurocrine Biosciences Inc. has agreed to pay Voyager Therapeutics Inc. $165 million up front and up to $1.7 billion in milestone payments for rights to develop and commercialize four experimental adeno-associated virus-based gene therapies, starting with one for Parkinson's disease and another for Friedreich's ataxia (FA). The complex agreement, which includes co-commercialization options for Voyager, broadens Neurocrine's pipeline of movement disorder drugs while simultaneously extending Voyager's cash runway into 2022, advancing each company's goals "beyond what we could have done apart from one another," Neurocrine CEO Kevin Gorman said.