Edge Therapeutics has obtained up to $10 million in venture debt financing from Hercules Technology Growth Capital, Inc. to support the continued development of EG-1962, the company’s lead product candidate.
“We are very pleased to enter into this loan agreement with Hercules, one of the leading specialty finance companies in the life sciences sector,” said Brian Leuthner, Chief Executive Officer and President. “With the additional access to capital we remain on our path to delivering top-line data from the ongoing NEWTON trial for EG-1962 by the first half of 2015 while limiting shareholder dilution.”
Edge is developing EG-1962 to fundamentally improve patient outcomes and transform the management of aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage. The company believes that EG-1962 can become the new standard of care for patients suffering from a ruptured brain aneurysm who receive an intraventricular catheter.
The $10 million ($3.0 million of which was drawn down at closing, and the balance of which is available upon the satisfaction of certain milestones) in funding from Hercules is in the form of secured indebtedness. Payments under the loan agreement are interest only for 12 months, followed by 30 equal monthly payments of principal and interest through the scheduled maturity date on March 1, 2018.
EG-1962 is a novel polymeric nimodipine microparticle that is administered directly into the brain ventricles. A single dose of EG-1962, administered initially at the time of aneurysm repair delivers a high concentration of nimodipine directly to the brain, with sustained drug exposure over 21 days. EG-1962 utilizes Edge’s proprietary, programmable, biodegradable polymer-based development platform, known as Precisa™. The Precisa™ platform allows Edge to create therapeutics capable of delivering medicines directly to the site of injury, providing a novel delivery mechanism that enables targeted and sustained drug exposure while potentially avoiding the systemic, dose-limiting side effects often associated with current standards of care. EG-1962 is currently being evaluated in the Phase 1/2 NEWTON study, a safety, tolerability and pharmacokinetics clinical trial.
Edge Therapeutics is a clinical-stage biotechnology company that discovers, develops and seeks to commercialize novel, hospital-based therapies capable of transforming treatment paradigms in the management of acute, life-threatening neurological conditions. EG-1962, our lead product candidate, has the potential to fundamentally improve patient outcomes and transform the management of aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage, or aSAH, which is bleeding around the brain due to a ruptured brain aneurysm. EG-1964, our second product candidate, is being evaluated as a potential prophylactic treatment in the management of chronic subdural hematoma (cSDH), to prevent recurrent bleeding on the surface of the brain.
Hercules Technology Growth Capital, Inc. is a leading specialty finance company focused on providing senior secured loans to venture capital-backed companies in technology-related markets, including technology, biotechnology, life science, and energy & renewable technology industries, at all stages of development. Since inception (December 2003), Hercules has committed more than $4.4 billion to over 290 companies and is the lender of choice for entrepreneurs and venture capital firms.