Dental company vVARDIS raises $175 million in NYSE listing below its target range

Overview

Updated 1 hour ago

Dentists have handled early cavities the same way since the drill arrived in the 1950s: watch the lesion, then fill it. vVARDIS raised $175 million on the New York Stock Exchange on Nov. 13 to sell them a third option, a peptide gel called Curodont that rebuilds enamel without drilling.

The company sold 9.72 million shares at $18 each, below the $21 to $24 range it had marketed, after cutting the deal's size the day before pricing. The stock opened at $14 and closed at $16.50, 8.3% under the offering price. Curodont is regulated in the United States as an over-the-counter drug based on its sodium fluoride content, and the Food and Drug Administration has not judged its safety or efficacy. Whether dentists adopt it and insurers pay for it decides whether drill-free cavity care becomes routine.

Why it matters

If insurers pay for Curodont, millions of early cavities get treated without a drill; if not, it stays a premium add-on.

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Key Indicators

$175M

Gross IPO proceeds

Raised before the underwriters' option for 1.46 million additional shares.

$18.00

IPO price per share

Below the marketed range of $21 to $24.

8.3%

First-day close versus IPO price

Shares closed at $16.50 after opening at $14.

9.72M

Class A shares sold

Share count was raised back above the original deal size to hit the $175 million raise.

$30.2M

2025 net revenue

Up 148.5% year over year, at a 74.2% gross margin.

214%

First-half 2026 revenue growth

Net revenue of $28.6 million in the six months to June 30, 2026.

3.5M

Teeth treated

Company estimate as of June 30, 2026, after a January 2024 US launch.

$13B

Addressable market

At least 450 million treatable early-stage cavities in patients seen by dentists yearly.

Voices

Curated perspectives — historical figures and your fellow readers.

People Involved

Dr. Haley Abivardi

Co-founder and co-CEO, vVARDIS

Leads a newly public company trading below its IPO price

Dr. Goly Abivardi

Co-founder and co-CEO, vVARDIS

Leads a newly public company trading below its IPO price

Organizations Involved

vVARDIS Holding AG

Publicly traded dental med-tech company

Listed on the New York Stock Exchange as VVVV

Swiss company selling a peptide-based treatment that aims to stop and repair early cavities without drilling.

Apollo

Asset manager

Minority investor in vVARDIS

Apollo funds bought a minority stake in vVARDIS earlier in 2026.

U.S. Food and Drug Administration

Federal regulator

Regulates the US product as an over-the-counter drug

Curodont Repair Fluoride Plus is sold in the US as an over-the-counter drug because of its sodium fluoride content.

Timeline

January 2024 November 2026

7 events Latest: 2 days ago

Tap a bar to jump to that date

November 2026
Offering scheduled to close
Upcoming IPO

Closing is subject to customary conditions; underwriters hold a 30-day option for more shares.
Tomorrow
IPO prices at $18, raising $175 million
Latest IPO

vVARDIS sells 9.72 million shares below its marketed range; trading begins as VVVV.
2 days ago
Shares open at $14, close at $16.50
Market

The debut came during a technology selloff that had made investors price-sensitive.
2 days ago
Registration effective; deal size cut to 8.3 million shares
Filing

The share count was reduced while the $21 to $24 price range held.
3 days ago
June 2026
3.5 million teeth treated
Milestone

Products reach more than 20,000 of about 110,000 US general dental practices.
June 30th, 2026
December 2025
Full-year revenue reaches $30.2 million
Financial results

Net revenue grew 148.5% year over year at a 74.2% gross margin.
December 31st, 2025
January 2024
Curodont enters US dental practices
Product launch

vVARDIS begins selling Curodont Repair Fluoride Plus commercially in the United States.
January 2024

Scenarios

A major dental insurer starts paying for Curodont

Possible Resolves by End of 2027

Discussed by: vVARDIS's filing, which argues the product aligns incentives for patients, dentists and payors

The company's pitch rests on getting paid for treating an early lesion instead of watching it. A coverage policy from a large dental insurer would turn that argument into revenue and give dentists a billing code reason to buy the product. Without one, Curodont stays an out-of-pocket add-on sold practice by practice.

Shares trade back above the $18 IPO price

Uncertain Resolves by May 13, 2027

Discussed by: Market coverage of the debut, including Reuters' reporting on the technology selloff

The stock closed its first day at $16.50, so buyers at the offer price are underwater. A recovery above $18 would mean public investors accepted the growth story once the broader selloff eased. A continued decline into the lock-up expiry would make later capital raises harder.

A larger medical or dental company buys vVARDIS

Unlikely Resolves by End of 2028

Discussed by: No public prediction; Apollo's minority stake makes a strategic exit a live path

Dental distribution is controlled by a handful of large manufacturers and distributors that could plug Curodont into existing sales forces. A below-range IPO lowers the price of an acquisition. The trigger would be a tender offer or merger agreement filed with regulators.

US regulators challenge Curodont's marketing claims

Unlikely Resolves by Q2 2028

Discussed by: The company's own filing, which notes the FDA has not judged the product's safety or efficacy

The US product is an over-the-counter drug, not an approved treatment. Claims that it regrows enamel or replaces fillings could draw an FDA warning letter or a Federal Trade Commission action over advertising. Either would force label and marketing changes at the moment the company is spending to build a category.

Historical Context

3 moments from history that rhyme with this story — and how they unfolded.

1950s

Drill-and-fill becomes the standard (1950s)

The dental drill spread through practices in the 1950s, and cavity treatment settled into two options: prevent decay with fluoride, or remove it with a drill and fill the hole. vVARDIS's filing describes that split as essentially unchanged for decades.

Then

Restorative dentistry built its training, insurance codes and equipment around drilling.

Now

The gap between prevention and surgery left early, non-cavitated lesions with no active treatment.

Why this matters now

Curodont is aimed exactly at that gap, at lesion stages where the current choice is to wait or to cut.

1997-2001

Align Technology and Invisalign (1997-2001)

Align Technology introduced Invisalign, a clear plastic alternative to metal braces, and took the company public in 2001. It had to train orthodontists and dentists to prescribe a treatment that had not existed before.

Then

The product found patients willing to pay out of pocket for a less visible option.

Now

Clear aligners became a mainstream dental category and made Align one of the industry's most valuable companies.

Why this matters now

It shows a new dental category can scale, and that clinician training, not patient demand, is usually the bottleneck.

2019-2023

SmileDirectClub (2019-2023)

SmileDirectClub sold clear aligners directly to consumers, bypassing dental offices, and went public in 2019. Dentists and orthodontists challenged the model in courts and state legislatures, and the company filed for bankruptcy in 2023 and shut down.

Then

Patients lost a low-cost option and staff lost jobs.

Now

The episode showed that dentistry's distribution and professional structures can stall a well-funded outsider.

Why this matters now

vVARDIS took the opposite route, selling through dentists, which slows adoption but makes the position harder to dislodge.