Nov. 7 Quick Takes: Viatris buying Oyster Point a year after dry eye approval

Five years to the day after announcing its series A round, ophthalmology company Oyster Point Pharma Inc. (NASDAQ:OYST) has delivered an exit for its investors through its sale to Viatris Inc. (NASDAQ:VTRS) for $11 per share, or about $300 million up front.  The deal includes an additional $2-per-share contingent value right that can be fulfilled based on 2022 commercial performance thresholds tied to Tyrvaya varenicline, its nasal spray for dry eye that was approved in October 2021. New Enterprise Associates and Versant Ventures backed Oyster Point in its initial round; the two held more than 35% of Oyster Point’s equity as of its April proxy statement. Although Oyster Point had lost value from its 52-week high of $19.98 in late December 2021, the purchase price represented a 32% premium over the biotech’s closing price of $8.35 on Friday. Oyster Point went public two years ago at $16.

Shares of in vivo base editing company Verve Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ:VERV) lost $9.54 (30%) to $21.75 Monday after FDA placed a clinical hold on VERVE-101, its therapeutic for heterozygous familial hypercholesterolemia (HeFH) targeting PCSK9. Under an IND submitted last month, the company had hoped to begin U.S. enrollment in the Phase I heart-1 study, which has already commenced in New Zealand and the U.K. Verve said it did not include any clinical data from ex-U.S. sites in the IND, and the biotech intends to work with FDA to address the agency’s concerns. The stock move shaved about $590 million from Verve’s market cap...