Swiss dental company vVardis is pursuing a listing on the New York Stock Exchange, built around Curodont, a product that treats cavities without drilling into teeth.
According to Bloomberg, vVardis filed a confidential draft registration statement with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on the 9th. The company plans to trade under the ticker VVVV, with Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan serving as lead underwriters and William Blair, UBS, Deutsche Bank, and Apollo Global Securities listed as co-underwriters.
Filling Teeth From the Inside, Without Drilling
Curodont is a product that a dentist applies to an early-stage cavity lesion that hasn't yet formed a hole, completing the treatment within five minutes. Without a drill or anesthesia, a self-assembling peptide seeps into the microscopic gaps in the lesion and draws in minerals from saliva, refilling the tooth from the inside. We've previously covered the clinical trial results behind this remineralization technology. While that article examined the scientific evidence for the treatment itself, this news shows how large the company that commercialized the technology has grown as a business.
In the US, a fluoride-added version called 'Curodont Repair Fluoride Plus' is sold under the Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) over-the-counter drug monograph, without requiring separate product approval. It is distributed exclusively through dental supply giant Henry Schein, and since starting commercial sales in the US in 2024, it has rapidly spread to more than 20,000 of the roughly 110,000 general dental practices nationwide.
Revenue Triples, Losses Narrow
According to vVardis's SEC filing, revenue in the first half of this year was $28.6 million, more than three times the $9.1 million recorded in the same period a year earlier. Net loss was $27.8 million, down from $32.1 million a year earlier. Trailing-12-month revenue reached $50 million. In a funding round last April, the company was valued at over $1 billion (about ₩1.3 trillion at the October 13 exchange rate).
Sisters Who Sold a Dental Chain to Buy the Technology
vVardis was founded by sisters Haleh and Goli Abivardi, both dentists. They ran a dental clinic chain in Switzerland, sold it, and used the proceeds to acquire the intellectual property for this remineralization technology, building the company that exists today. Even after the listing, the two plan to retain control through Class B shares that carry greater voting power.
In South Korea, the health insurance criteria for cavity treatment differ. Treatment that fills an already-formed cavity hole with resin or a basic filling material is covered by insurance (such as resin treatment for permanent teeth in children 12 and under, and sealants for those 18 and under), but remineralization treatment for early-stage lesions that haven't yet formed a hole remains mostly uncovered. South Korea does have cases of dental materials and equipment companies going public: implant maker Dentis listed on KOSDAQ in 2020, and Cowellmedi is also pursuing a listing recently. Still, it is hard to find a domestic company pursuing a listing around a material for remineralizing early-stage cavities that haven't yet formed a hole.