Two years after forming through the merger of Pfizer's Upjohn and Mylan, Viatris has carved out new ambitions to become a global leader in eye care. At the same time, the company is working to grow beyond its image as a generics-only player.
After scooping up eye care specialists Oyster Point Pharma and Famy Life Sciences in November for up to $750 million, Viatris boasts “one of the largest commercial sales forces” in ophthalmology in the U.S., Viatris eye care division head Jeffrey Nau said at the J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference. Nau served as Oyster Point's CEO before the Viatris buyout.
With the recent acquisitions in hand, Viatris has set a goal to reach $1 billion in eye care sales by 2028.
Meanwhile, Viatris wants to make clear that it's not just a generics business. At JPM, CEO Michael Goettler said the company’s diverse set of offerings are “really underappreciated.”
“Even in our minds, we are still used to our legacy,” Goettler added.
Generics make up just 11% of the company’s total business, the CEO said. In November, Viatris sold its biosimilar franchise to Biocon for $3.3 billion, allowing it to pivot to its three areas of interest: gastrointestinal diseases, ophthalmology and dermatology.
The three sectors are attractive for several reasons, Goettler said. First, a lot of innovation in the fields comes from smaller players as opposed to big pharma companies. That should allow Viatris to scout for promising partnerships or acquisitions.
Plus, drugs in the three fields are often specialty pharmaceuticals, meaning there's not a need to deploy a “5000-person salesforce” to promote them, the CEO said.
In buying Oyster Point, Viatris picked up an approved nasal spray for dry eye disease called Tyrvaya, plus a pipeline, sales force, medical staff and more. Tyrvaya is currently being assessed for a second indication in neurotrophic keratopathy, and phase 2 results are expected during the first quarter of 2023. Oyster Point's platform, combined with Viatris' supply chain and global capabilities, should allow the company to “take this to a whole other level,” Goettler said.
Right now, there is no “global leader” in pharmaceutical development in the eye care space, Nau said. There are companies that“play in eye care,” but they are often focused in other areas of medicine. Viatris, for its part, wants to build out a franchise that is “purely focused” on eye care.
“There is a lot of innovation that goes on in ophthalmology,” Nau said. “There is no lack of startup companies and small companies out there. And they also need to have leaders in that space to be able to operate well,” Nau said.
As for the company’s $1 billion in eye care sales target by 2028, Viatris expects a little more than half to come from the company’s pipeline.