ARCH Funds Sell 347,819 And 448,356 Vir Biotechnology Shares, Retain Stakes
The funds cited investment purposes and left further purchases or sales open, while Robert Nelsen reported 7.3% beneficial ownership.
ARCH Venture Fund IX sold 347,819 shares of Vir Biotechnology, which develops investigational medicines for infectious diseases and cancer, while ARCH Venture Fund IX Overage sold 448,356 shares. The cash sales ran from Tuesday through Thursday, according to an amended SEC ownership filing filed Friday.
Sales At $11.24 To $12.06
The funds' transactions carried average prices of $11.24 on Tuesday and $11.60 on Wednesday. Thursday's sales were split between batches averaging $11.26 and $12.06 per share.
The reporting persons said the funds bought their shares as investments. They left open further purchases or sales based on market conditions, their evaluation of Vir's business and prospects, and other factors. They also stated they had no present plans for board or management changes, a merger or a material change to the business.
Fund Holdings And Personal Stakes
ARCH Venture Fund IX remained the holder of 5,055,689 shares, and ARCH Venture Fund IX Overage held 6,842,299. The affiliated ARCH reporting entities each listed 6.9% beneficial ownership, covering 11,897,988 shares over which voting and sale authority may be shared; those entries are overlapping interests, not separate holdings to add together.
Robert Nelsen reported 12,508,029 shares, or 7.3%, in beneficial ownership. That figure includes shared interests rather than solely his personal holdings: he separately held 576,148 shares, and 33,893 shares held by family trusts were included in his shared figures.
Keith Crandell reported 7.1% beneficial ownership and separately held 272,964 shares. Clinton Bybee reported 7% and separately held 30,570 shares, with 61,160 family-trust shares included in his shared figures. The ownership percentages use Vir's 171,270,773 shares outstanding as of October 28.
Vir's Medicines Remain In Development
Vir's product candidates have not been approved for sale. Its development portfolio includes elebsiran and T-cell engager programs, and the company has taken regulatory sponsorship of all current trials for those programs.
The company uses its dAIsY artificial-intelligence engine to help engineer next-generation antibodies. Collaboration and licensing agreements also form part of its business: Vir licenses technologies and brings in candidates from other developers, while licensing selected candidates to other companies for further development and possible commercialization.
The reported sales reduced the funds' holdings; their stated investment approach still allows them to buy or sell additional Vir shares.
