Form 8-K - Current report

UNITED STATES
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
WASHINGTON, D.C. 20549

FORM 8-K

CURRENT REPORT

Pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934

    Date of Report (Date of earliest event reported) March 04, 2024

   

EyePoint Pharmaceuticals, Inc.

(Exact name of Registrant as Specified in Its Charter)


Delaware	000-51122	26-2774444
(State or Other Jurisdiction of Incorporation)	(Commission File Number)	(IRS Employer Identification No.)

480 Pleasant Street
Watertown, Massachusetts		02472
(Address of Principal Executive Offices)		(Zip Code)

    Registrant’s Telephone Number, Including Area Code: (617) 926-5000

   

(Former Name or Former Address, if Changed Since Last Report)

Check the appropriate box below if the Form 8-K filing is intended to simultaneously satisfy the filing obligation of the registrant under any of the following provisions:

☐Written communications pursuant to Rule 425 under the Securities Act (17 CFR 230.425)

☐Soliciting material pursuant to Rule 14a-12 under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.14a-12)

☐Pre-commencement communications pursuant to Rule 14d-2(b) under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.14d-2(b))

☐Pre-commencement communications pursuant to Rule 13e-4(c) under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.13e-4(c))

Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act:


Title of each class	Trading Symbol(s)	Name of each exchange on which registered
Common Stock, par value $0.001	EYPT	The Nasdaq Global Market

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is an emerging growth company as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act of 1933 (§ 230.405 of this chapter) or Rule 12b-2 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (§ 240.12b-2 of this chapter).

Emerging growth company ☐

If an emerging growth company, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards provided pursuant to Section 13(a) of the Exchange Act. ☐

Item 8.01. Other Events.

On March 4, 2024, EyePoint Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (the “Company”) issued a press release announcing the appointment of Ramiro Ribeiro, M.D., Ph.D., as the Company’s Chief Medical Officer, effective as of March 1, 2024, succeeding Dario Paggiarino, M.D., who had served as EyePoint’s Chief Medical Officer since 2016 and will be leaving the company effective March 31, 2024.

A copy of the press release, which is filed with this Current Report on Form 8-K as Exhibit 99.1, is hereby filed pursuant to this Item 8.01.

Item 9.01. Financial Statements and Exhibits.

(d) Exhibits.


Exhibit No.		Description
99.1		Press Release of EyePoint Pharmaceuticals, Inc., dated March 4, 2024
104		Cover Page Interactive Data File (embedded within the inline XBRL document)

SIGNATURES

Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned hereunto duly authorized.


			EYEPOINT PHARMACEUTICALS, INC.

Date:	March 4, 2024	By:	/s/ George O. Elston
			George O. Elston Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer

Exhibit 99.1

EyePoint Pharmaceuticals Announces Appointment of Ramiro Ribeiro, M.D., Ph.D. as Chief Medical Officer

–

Company on-track to report topline data in 2Q 2024 for the Phase 2 PAVIA clinical trial of EYP-1901 in moderately severe-to-severe NPDR –

–

Initiation of first Phase 3 clinical trial (LUGANO) of EYP-1901 in wet AMD expected in 2H 2024 –

WATERTOWN, Mass, March 4, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) – EyePoint Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: EYPT), a company committed to developing and commercializing therapeutics to help improve the lives of patients with serious retinal diseases, today announced the appointment of Ramiro Ribeiro, M.D., Ph.D. as Chief Medical Officer to succeed Dario Paggiarino, M.D. who has served as EyePoint’s Chief Medical Officer since 2016. Dr. Ribeiro is a trained retinal specialist and joins EyePoint from Apellis Pharmaceuticals, where he served as Vice President, Head of Clinical Development.

“We are delighted to welcome Dr. Ribeiro to the EyePoint senior leadership team during an exciting time as we approach the anticipated Phase 2 PAVIA trial readout of EYP-1901 for NPDR in the second quarter and the initiation of our first Phase 3 LUGANO pivotal trial in wet AMD in the second half of this year,” said Jay S. Duker, M.D., President and Chief Executive Officer of EyePoint Pharmaceuticals. “Ramiro is a proven leader with a strong scientific and clinical background, and a track record of successfully bringing novel therapies for patients. His wealth of experience will be an incredibly valuable addition to the team as we advance EYP-1901 and pipeline programs through clinical development and potential FDA approval. I also want to express my sincere gratitude to Dr. Paggiarino for his numerous contributions to EyePoint during his tenure. Dario’s clinical knowledge and leadership have been instrumental to our success.”

“I have devoted my career to bringing innovative treatments to patients suffering from sight-threatening conditions, and I believe that intravitreal sustained-delivery therapies using EyePoint’s Durasert E™ technology have great potential to transform the treatment paradigm for serious retinal diseases” said Dr. Ribeiro. “EyePoint has built an impressive foundation as the leader in sustained intraocular drug delivery, demonstrated by the compelling efficacy and safety data of EYP-1901 observed in the Phase 1 DAVIO and Phase 2 DAVIO 2 trials. I am excited to work with the talented team at Eyepoint to drive the development of promising product candidates across Eyepoint’s portfolio and bring novel treatment options to patients around the world.”

Dr. Ribeiro joins EyePoint from Apellis Pharmaceuticals, where he served as Vice President and Head of Clinical Development. In his previous role, Dr. Ribeiro was responsible for building the pipeline strategy for Apellis’s ophthalmology franchise. He successfully led the cross-functional development team responsible for the global Phase 3 clinical program in Geographic Atrophy (GA) from protocol development through New Drug Application (NDA) submission and the U.S. FDA approval of SYFOVRE. Prior to joining Apellis in 2018, Dr. Ribeiro was the Senior Medical Director and Head of Digital Health at Acucela Inc., where he was responsible for multiple clinical trials in retina. Previously, he held leadership roles at Ophthotech (Iveric Bio), Alcon, Replenish, Inc., and 1Co Inc. Earlier, Dr. Ribeiro was a practicing retinal specialist. He holds a M.D. from Pontifical Catholic University and a Ph.D. in Stem Cell Therapy for Retinal Degenerative Diseases from the Federal University of São Paulo. He was also a research fellow at University of Southern California.

Inducement Grants under Nasdaq Listing Rule 5635(c)(4)

Exhibit 99.1

In connection with the hiring of Dr. Ribeiro, the Compensation Committee of Eyepoint Pharmaceutical’s Board of Directors granted stock options to purchase an aggregate of 125,000 shares of common stock as an inducement award material to Dr. Ribeiro entering into employment with the company in accordance with Nasdaq Listing Rule 5635(c)(4). The stock options have an exercise price equal to the closing price of EyePoint's common stock on March 1, 2024, and will vest as follows: 25% on the first anniversary and monthly through the fourth anniversary of the date of grant, subject to the terms of grant.

About EyePoint Pharmaceuticals

EyePoint Pharmaceuticals (Nasdaq: EYPT) is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company committed to developing and commercializing therapeutics to help improve the lives of patients with serious retinal diseases. The Company's pipeline leverages its proprietary bioerodible Durasert E™ technology for sustained intraocular drug delivery. The Company’s lead product candidate, EYP-1901, is an investigational sustained delivery treatment for VEGF-mediated retinal diseases combining vorolanib, a selective and patent-protected tyrosine kinase inhibitor with Durasert E™. Pipeline programs include EYP-2301, a promising TIE-2 agonist, razuprotafib, f/k/a AKB-9778, formulated in Durasert E™ to potentially improve outcomes in serious retinal diseases. The proven Durasert® drug delivery technology has been safely administered to thousands of patient eyes across four U.S. FDA approved products. EyePoint Pharmaceuticals is headquartered in Watertown, Massachusetts.

Vorolanib is licensed to EyePoint exclusively by Equinox Sciences, a Betta Pharmaceuticals affiliate, for the localized treatment of all ophthalmic diseases outside of China, Macao, Hong Kong and Taiwan.

Forward Looking Statements

EYEPOINT PHARMACEUTICALS SAFE HARBOR STATEMENTS UNDER THE PRIVATE SECURITIES LITIGATION ACT OF 1995: To the extent any statements made in this press release deal with information that is not historical, these are forward-looking statements under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such statements include, but are not limited to, statements regarding the use of proceeds for the offering and other statements identified by words such as “will,” “potential,” “could,” “can,” “believe,” “intends,” “continue,” “plans,” “expects,” “anticipates,” “estimates,” “may,” other words of similar meaning or the use of future dates. Forward-looking statements by their nature address matters that are, to different degrees, uncertain. Uncertainties and risks may cause EyePoint’s actual results to be materially different than those expressed in or implied by EyePoint’s forward-looking statements. For EyePoint, this includes uncertainties regarding the timing and clinical development of our product candidates, including EYP-1901 and EYP-2301; the potential for EYP-1901 as a novel sustained delivery treatment for serious eye diseases, including wet age-related macular degeneration (wet AMD) and non-proliferative diabetic retinopathy (NPDR) and diabetic macular edema (DME); the effectiveness and timeliness of clinical trials, and the usefulness of the data; the timeliness of regulatory approvals including potential U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regulatory approval of EYP-1901 and EYP-2301; the success of current and future license agreements; our dependence on contract research organizations, co-promotion partners, and other outside vendors and service providers; the success of Durasert® as a drug delivery platform in FDA approved products; product liability; industry consolidation; compliance with environmental laws; risks and costs of international business operations; volatility of stock price; possible dilution; absence of dividends; the impact of general business and economic conditions; protection of our intellectual property and avoiding intellectual property infringement; retention of key personnel; manufacturing risks; and other factors described in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. We cannot guarantee that the results and other expectations expressed, anticipated or implied in any forward-looking statement will be realized. A variety of factors, including these risks, could cause our actual results and other expectations to differ materially from the anticipated results or other expectations expressed, anticipated or implied in our forward-looking statements. Should known or unknown risks materialize, or should underlying assumptions prove inaccurate, actual results could differ materially from past results and those anticipated, estimated or projected in the forward-looking statements. You should bear this in mind as you

Exhibit 99.1

consider any forward-looking statements. Our forward-looking statements speak only as of the dates on which they are made. EyePoint undertakes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

Investors:

Christina Tartaglia
Stern IR
Direct: 212-698-8700
christina.tartaglia@sternir.com

Media Contact:

Amy Phillips

Green Room Communications

Direct: 412-327-9499

aphillips@greenroompr.com

Document And Entity Information	Mar. 04, 2024
Document Information [Line Items]
Document Type	8-K
Amendment Flag	false
Document Period End Date	Mar. 04, 2024
Entity Registrant Name	EyePoint Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
Entity Central Index Key	0001314102
Entity Emerging Growth Company	false
Entity File Number	000-51122
Entity Incorporation, State or Country Code	DE
Entity Tax Identification Number	26-2774444
Entity Address, Address Line One	480 Pleasant Street
Entity Address, City or Town	Watertown
Entity Address, State or Province	MA
Entity Address, Postal Zip Code	02472
City Area Code	(617)
Local Phone Number	926-5000
Written Communications	false
Soliciting Material	false
Pre-commencement Tender Offer	false
Pre-commencement Issuer Tender Offer	false
Title of 12(b) Security	Common Stock, par value $0.001
Trading Symbol	EYPT
Security Exchange Name	NASDAQ
Former Address [Member]
Document Information [Line Items]
Entity Address, Address Line One