7 November 2024
BIOPHARMA
CREDIT PLC
(THE
"COMPANY")
NEW
INVESTMENT OF UP TO US$250 MILLION
BioPharma Credit PLC (LSE:
BPCR), the specialist life sciences debt investment trust, is
pleased to announce that it, through its fully owned subsidiary,
together with BioPharma Credit Investments V (Master)
LP ("BioPharma-V" and jointly with the Company, the "Lenders")
has entered into a definitive senior secured loan agreement
with Geron Corporation ("Geron") (the "Loan Agreement"). The
Company will invest up to US$100 million and BioPharma-V
will invest up to an additional US$150 million in parallel,
with the Company acting as collateral agent.
Based in the US, Geron is a commercial-stage biopharmaceutical company with a
current market capitalization of ~US2.5 billion committed to
extending and enhancing the lives of people living with blood
cancers. Geron's telomerase inhibitor RYTELO™ (imetelstat) is
approved in the United States for the treatment of certain adult
patients with lower-risk myelodysplastic syndromes (LR-MDS) with
transfusion dependent anemia. Geron is also conducting a pivotal
Phase 3 clinical trial of imetelstat in JAK-inhibitor
relapsed/refractory myelofibrosis (R/R MF), as well as studies in
other myeloid hematologic malignancies. Rytelo was
launched in the United States on June 27, 2024. Net product
revenue for the quarter ending September 30, 2024 was US$28.2
million.
Under the terms of the transaction,
the Company will invest up to US$100 million across three
tranches:
· Tranche A of US$50 million was drawn on 1 November
2024;
· Tranche B of US$30 million is available to be drawn by 31
December 2025, subject to customary conditions precedent set forth
in the Loan Agreement; and
· Tranche C of up to US$20 million will be available upon
achievement of certain revenue milestones and customary conditions
precedent set forth in the Loan Agreement until 31 December
2025.
The loan will mature
in November 2029 and will bear interest at 3-month SOFR plus
5.75 per cent. per annum subject to a 3.00 per cent. SOFR floor,
along with an additional consideration of 2.50 per cent. The
additional consideration with respect to Tranche A was paid at the
funding of Tranche A and will be due and payable with respect to
Tranche B and Tranche C at the funding of those
tranches.
Pedro Gonzalez de Cosio, CEO
of Pharmakon Advisors, LP, the Company's investment adviser
said:
"The Geron team is driving
commercial success in the U.S. with RYTELO, an innovative
first-in-class telomerase inhibitor, and we look forward to
supporting the company and management team as they plan for a
potential launch in the EU and continue to develop the asset in
additional hematologic malignancies."
Enquiries
Burson Buchanan
Mark Court / Jamie Hooper /
Henry Wilson / Samuel Adams
+44 (0) 20 7466 5000
biopharmacredit@buchanan.uk.com
Notes to Editors
BioPharma Credit
PLC is London's only specialist debt investor to the
life sciences industry and joined the LSE in March 2017. The
Company seeks to provide long-term shareholder returns, principally
in the form of sustainable income distributions from exposure to
the life sciences industry. The Company seeks to achieve this
objective primarily through investments in debt assets secured by
royalties or other cash flows derived from the sales of approved
life sciences products.