On the back of its $350 million deal for two late-stage Idorsia assets, Viatris will continue to be “opportunistic” when it comes to making future business development grabs—especially on the commercial side—executives said on a call with analysts Wednesday.
Viatris will continue to entertain “all manner” of deals to bulk up its portfolio, CEO Scott Smith said on the call.
“Licensing, partnering [and] M&A for in-market assets is something that we’re looking at,” he explained, noting that the company is also exploring “broader licensing agreements,” too.
When it comes to dealmaking opportunities, Viatris will continue to focus on its bread-and-butter therapeutic areas in dermatology, gastrointestinal and ophthalmology, Smith added. Nevertheless, “we’re also going to be opportunistic outside of those areas to find assets that fit what we need,” he said.
Smith caveated that he expects Viatris to chart more licensing and partnership deals than outright M&A, given that those arrangements are less risky and capital-intensive.
The main challenge, according to Smith, is finding “impactful assets” that can be developed to become “blockbusters that are patented with long-term revenue streams.”
The CEO’s comments came as Viatris reported full-year 2023 sales of $15.4 billion, meeting the guidance for total revenue it laid out last year. For 2024, the company expects to generate sales between $15.25 billion and $15.75 billion, according to its latest earnings release.
Viatris is currently in something of a transitional period.
Last fall, the company said it would slim down by divesting its over-the-counter, women’s healthcare and active pharmaceutical ingredients businesses. At the time, Viatris predicted its total “non-core” divestitures would yield some $3.6 billion.
Meanwhile, just this morning, Viatris laid out $350 million upfront in exchanged for the global rights to two phase 3 candidates from Switzerland’s Idorsia: selatogrel for patients who’ve suffered a second heart attack and cenerimod, which is being developed in systemic lupus erythematosus.
On Wednesday’s analyst call, Smith called the pair of Idorsia assets “relatively de-risked” with “real blockbuster potential.”
“In terms of phase 3 assets, we also have an ability to affect the development and the registration strategy and of course the commercial strategy going forward,” Smith said. “So there are some benefits, I think, to doing things at this stage.”