Cerecor Enters Into $35 Million Debt Financing Agreement With Horizon Technology Finance
June 07 2021 - 7:00AM
Cerecor Inc. (NASDAQ: CERC), a biopharmaceutical company focused on
becoming a leader in the development and commercialization of
treatments for rare and orphan diseases, today announced that it
has entered into a debt financing agreement led by Horizon
Technology Finance Corporation (NASDAQ: HRZN) (“Horizon”) to
provide up to $35.0 million in term loans.
“We are pleased to partner with Horizon, a
leading specialty finance company that has an extensive history of
supporting innovative life science companies,” said Michael Cola,
Chief Executive Officer of Cerecor. “Over the course of 2021, we
anticipate a number of important data readouts across our
immunology, oncology, and rare genetic disorders product
candidates. This transaction immediately strengthens and extends
our financial resources to advance our clinical pipeline towards
these key development milestones.”
Gerald A. Michaud, President of Horizon stated,
“We are delighted to provide this financing to Cerecor and have
confidence in the Company's business strategy. We look forward to
watching the Company reach its critical development milestones for
its orphan and rare disease therapies in the pipeline. This
investment in Cerecor provides another example of our ability to
finance life sciences companies through multiple stages of
development and through various value inflection points.”
$20 million of the $35 million loan was funded
upon closing. The remaining $15 million may be funded upon Cerecor
achieving certain predetermined milestones. Each advance of the
loan will be repaid in 42 monthly payments consisting of 18 monthly
payments of interest only, followed by 24 monthly payments of
principal and accrued interest, and will be payable monthly in
arrears. The interest-only period may be extended to 24 months
contingent upon Cerecor achieving certain milestones. In connection
with the financing, Cerecor issued Horizon warrants to purchase up
to 403,844 of its common shares at an exercise price of $2.60 per
share. Proceeds will be used to support the ongoing clinical
development of key investigational product candidates within its
pipeline and for general working capital purposes.
Jefferies acted as exclusive arranger and
financial advisor to Cerecor in this transaction.
Further information with respect to the debt
financing agreement with Horizon will be contained in a Current
Report to be filed on Form 8-K by Cerecor with the Securities and
Exchange Commission.
About Cerecor
Cerecor is a biopharmaceutical company focused
on becoming a leader in the development and commercialization of
treatments for rare and orphan diseases. The company is advancing
its clinical-stage pipeline of innovative therapies that address
unmet patient needs within rare and orphan diseases. The company's
rare disease pipeline includes CERC-801, CERC-802 and CERC-803,
which are in development for congenital disorders of glycosylation
and CERC-006, an oral mTORc1/c2 inhibitor in development for the
treatment of complex lymphatic malformations. The company is also
developing two monoclonal antibodies, CERC-002, and CERC-007.
CERC-002 targets the cytokine LIGHT (TNFSF14) and is in clinical
development for treatment of severe pediatric-onset Crohn's
disease, and COVID-19 acute respiratory distress syndrome. CERC-007
targets the cytokine IL-18 and is in clinical development for the
treatment of Still’s disease (adult onset Still’s disease (AOSD)
and systemic juvenile idiopathic arthritis (sJIA)), and multiple
myeloma (MM). CERC-006, 801, 802 and 803 have all received Orphan
Drug Designation and Rare Pediatric Disease Designation, which
makes all four eligible for a priority review voucher upon FDA
approval.
For more information about Cerecor, please visit
www.cerecor.com.
About Horizon Technology
Finance
Horizon Technology Finance Corporation (NASDAQ:
HRZN) is a leading specialty finance company that provides capital
in the form of secured loans to venture capital backed companies in
the technology, life science, healthcare information and services,
and sustainability industries. The investment objective of Horizon
is to maximize its investment portfolio's return by generating
current income from the debt investments it makes and capital
appreciation from the warrants it receives when making such debt
investments. Horizon is headquartered in Farmington, Connecticut,
with a regional office in Pleasanton, California, and investment
professionals located in Portland, Maine, Austin, Texas, and
Reston, Virginia. To learn more, please visit
www.horizontechfinance.com.
Forward-Looking Statements
This press release may include forward-looking
statements made pursuant to the Private Securities Litigation
Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements are statements that
are not historical facts. Such forward-looking statements are
subject to significant risks and uncertainties that are subject to
change based on various factors (many of which are beyond Cerecor’s
control), which could cause actual results to differ from the
forward-looking statements. Such statements may include, without
limitation, statements with respect to Cerecor’s plans, objectives,
projections, expectations and intentions and other statements
identified by words such as “projects,” “may,” “might,” “will,”
“could,” “would,” “should,” “continue,” “seeks,” “aims,”
“predicts,” “believes,” “expects,” “anticipates,” “estimates,”
“intends,” “plans,” “potential,” or similar expressions (including
their use in the negative), or by discussions of future matters
such as: the development of product candidates or products; timing
and success of trial results and regulatory review; potential
attributes and benefits of product candidates; and other statements
that are not historical. These statements are based upon the
current beliefs and expectations of Cerecor’s management but are
subject to significant risks and uncertainties, including: drug
development costs, timing and other risks, including reliance on
investigators and enrollment of patients in clinical trials, which
might be slowed by the COVID-19 pandemic; regulatory risks;
Cerecor's cash position and the potential need for it to raise
additional capital; general economic and market risks and
uncertainties, including those caused by the COVID-19 pandemic; and
those other risks detailed in Cerecor’s filings with the Securities
and Exchange Commission. Actual results may differ from those set
forth in the forward-looking statements. Except as required by
applicable law, Cerecor expressly disclaims any obligations or
undertaking to release publicly any updates or revisions to any
forward-looking statements contained herein to reflect any change
in Cerecor’s expectations with respect thereto or any change in
events, conditions or circumstances on which any statement is
based.
For media and investor
inquiries
Chris BrinzeyWestwicke, an ICR
Companychris.brinzey@westwicke.com339-970-2843
or
Schond L. GreenwayInvestor RelationsChief
Financial OfficerCerecor Inc.sgreenway@cerecor.com610-522-6200
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