Scholar Rock, a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on the treatment of serious diseases in which protein growth factors play a fundamental role, announced the closing of a $50 million debt facility with Silicon Valley Bank and Oxford Finance LLC, of which the first $25 million was funded at closing. Scholar Rock intends to use the proceeds for general corporate purposes, including the advancement of the Company’s pipeline and for pre-commercialization preparations.
“This non-dilutive financing strengthens Scholar Rock’s balance sheet as we advance our clinical programs and overall platform for patients affected by a wide range of serious diseases, including neuromuscular disorders, cancer, fibrosis, and anemia,” said Ted Myles, CFO & Head of Business Operations of Scholar Rock. “Importantly, this facility provides added financial and operational flexibility as we head into important clinical read-outs for SRK-015 in spinal muscular atrophy and SRK-181 in immuno-oncology.”
Scholar Rock’s approach to discovering and developing growth factor targeted drugs is fundamentally new and different from traditional approaches,” stated Christopher A. Herr, Senior Managing Director at Oxford Finance. “As the company looks towards potential late-stage development with upcoming clinical data, we are pleased to provide capital to support their vision of developing novel medicines.”
“Scholar Rock is an innovative biopharma company that is developing treatments for an array of diseases with high unmet medical needs and we are excited to expand our relationship to support their next phase of growth,” said Kate Walsh, Director of Life Science and Healthcare at Silicon Valley Bank.
Under the terms of the debt facility, the second $25 million tranche is available through December 31, 2021 upon dosing of the first patient in a Phase 3 trial for SRK-015 and dosing of the first patient in Part B of the DRAGON Phase 1 trial for SRK-181. The debt facility will mature on May 1, 2025 and requires interest only payments for the first two years.