Great Point Partners LLC invests $12.67 million in Voyager Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VYGR).

Voyager Therapeutics appoints Nathan Jorgensen as Chief Financial Officer.

Improving Gene TherapyIn December 2023, the FDA made history by approving the first human gene therapy for sickle cell disease. This was quite a revolution and opened the way for much more gene therapy for other incurable diseases.One difficulty in all gene therapy procedures is getting enough of the intended genetic material delivered into the target cells. This can cause multiple issues, from too low gene modification to be efficient as a medicine to un-targeted cells being modified or immune reactions and side effects from too concentrated a dose. And, of course, using more than needed gene editing medicine is expensive.Luckily, researchers might have found a way to solve this issue, using electric pulses to boost the efficiency of gene transformation 40 times.Electricity For Gene EditingUsing electricity for gene modification is not really a new concept in itself, with electroporation a very ancient method used to create GMOs. However, in the case of this method, the damage inflicted on the cells by the very high voltage makes it only fit for modifying cell culture, bacteria, or plants, and not the gene inside a living animal or human.What the researchers at the University of Wisconsin–Madison have discovered is that gene therapies can be improved with a short pulse of electricity instead. This was done in collaboration between University of Wisconsin–Madison researchers ( Susan Hagness and John Booske and PhD student Yizhou Yao) and Hans Sollinger, a world-renowned transplant surgeon.Contrary to the more brutal electroporation method, the electric pulses are very quick, only 80 milliseconds long