RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, N.C., Feb. 06, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- BioCryst Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Nasdaq:BCRX) announced today that the company has entered into a $100 million secured loan facility (new loan facility) with MidCap Financial Trust (MidCap) pursuant to the terms and conditions of an amended and restated credit and security agreement.
The new loan facility replaces an existing $30 million secured loan facility with MidCap, provides $20 million of immediate additional non-dilutive capital to extend the company’s cash runway and provides financial flexibility to draw another $50 million of milestone-based non-dilutive capital at the company’s option.
“This non-dilutive financing provides BioCryst with significant additional financial flexibility, at our discretion, as we move through the topline BCX7353 APeX-2 data readout, NDA filing and our launch preparations,” said Tom Staab, chief financial officer of BioCryst.
Under the terms and conditions of the amended and restated credit and security agreement, BioCryst immediately accesses $50 million of the new loan facility, adding $20 million of non-dilutive cash.
An additional $30 million is available to BioCryst, at the company’s option, following positive data from APeX-2 that is sufficient to file a new drug application (NDA). To achieve this milestone, BioCryst must publicly announce its intention to file an NDA with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) based on data which meets the primary endpoint on at least one dose level in APeX-2. BioCryst plans to report topline 24-week safety and efficacy data from the APeX-2 clinical trial in the second quarter of 2019.
Upon FDA approval of BCX7353 for hereditary angioedema (HAE) prophylaxis, BioCryst has the option to draw an additional $20 million. BioCryst intends to file an NDA for BCX7353 by the end of 2019.
The terms of the new loan facility provide that BioCryst will be in an interest-only payment period through June 2020, with straight-line principal payments for 30 months commencing on July 1, 2020. The interest rate is consistent with the existing loan facility and will be a variable interest rate (LIBOR + 8%) with a LIBOR floor of 0.5%. At closing, BioCryst received an additional $20 million of principal, paid MidCap an origination fee of $350,000, an administrative fee of approximately $90,000 and an $80,000 exit fee accrued under the existing loan facility.
About BioCryst Pharmaceuticals
BioCryst Pharmaceuticals discovers novel, oral small-molecule medicines that treat rare diseases in which significant unmet medical needs exist and an enzyme plays a key role in the biological pathway of the disease. BioCryst has several ongoing development programs including BCX7353, an oral treatment for hereditary angioedema, galidesivir, a potential treatment for Marburg virus disease and Yellow Fever, and a preclinical program to develop oral ALK-2 inhibitors for the treatment of fibrodysplasia ossificans progressiva. RAPIVAB® (peramivir injection), a viral neuraminidase inhibitor for the treatment of influenza, is BioCryst's first approved product and has received regulatory approval in the U.S., Canada, Australia, Japan, Taiwan, Korea and the European Union. Post-marketing commitments for RAPIVAB are ongoing. For more information, please visit the Company's website at www.BioCryst.com.
