BLOG: Viatris, a new industry player, buys Oyster Point
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Gotta admit, didn’t see this coming at all.
Like everyone else, I was waiting for Allergan or Novartis, Alcon or Bausch + Lomb to start spending the piles of cash sitting in their coffers and buy some of the smaller companies or their new drugs. I totally missed Viatris, the large maker of generic medications formed by the merger of Mylan and the generic division of Pfizer. I’ve made so much noise about Fauxstasis this year you’d think I’d remember that it’s made by Viatris.
With the purchase of Oyster Point, Viatris has sent a clear message that it intends to be much more than just a generic drug company. Unlike the Alcon purchases of Aerie and Kala, which resulted in the termination of the sales staff of both companies, Viatris has made a huge jump ahead of the typical “new company” timeline by acquiring a fully kitted out sales force, sales management and sales support staff. It is extremely expensive and time-consuming to build this human infrastructure from scratch; Viatris will hit the ground running.
While it did not receive the same degree of fanfare, Viatris has also effectively bought control of the pharmaceutical assets of Ocuphire. Through a complex series of licensing agreements with both Ocuphire and a closely related company, Famy, Viatris will pay for the right to license the medications that Ocuphire has in development, including presbyopia, mydriasis reversal and myopia mitigation drops. Ocuphire has a very interesting drug pipeline that not only includes a dry eye drug but some very promising systemic medications as well.
Viatris has publicly stated that it plans to become a “leading ophthalmology franchise.” With the two deals just announced, the purchase of Oyster Point and licensing of Ocuphire’s assets, Viatris has acquired not only a portfolio of promising medications, but also the sales force and management team personnel to make it happen.
Gonna be fun to see if it can pull it off.
Reference:
- Viatris announces two acquisitions to create what it expects to be a leading ophthalmology franchise; plans to provide strategic update on its February 2022 investor event. https://viatris.gcs-web.com/news-releases/news-release-details/viatris-announces-two-acquisitions-create-what-it-expects-be. Published Nov. 7, 2022. Accessed Nov. 29, 2022.
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