Valneva Announces New $85 Million Financing Arrangement with Leading US Healthcare Funds Deerfield and OrbiMed
The Company also confirms its mid-term intention to list on Nasdaq to co-fund late stage development of its Lyme disease program
- Financing Transaction includes initial $60 million fixed rate debt and flexible terms to draw down an additional $25 million in the next 12 months
- Valneva will use funds to further advance its leading Lyme and chikungunya development programs and to repay existing debt
Saint-Herblain (France), February 3, 2020 – Valneva SE (“Valneva” or “the Company”) today announced a broad debt financing transaction with funds managed by leading US-based healthcare investment firms Deerfield Management Company and OrbiMed. Both firms are providing their financing to support Valneva’s long-term strategy.
The transaction includes an initial fixed rate straight debt of $60 million (at a high, single digit interest rate) and flexible terms that allow the company to draw down an additional $25 million of capital upon similar terms in the next 12 months. Amortization payments will start in 3 years, and the loan will mature in 6 years. The intended use of proceeds is to repay the existing loan from the European Investment Bank (EIB) and allow the Company to continue to advance its leading Lyme and chikungunya development programs in the short term. Completion of the transaction is subject to the satisfaction of conditions precedent, notably the perfection of liens and pledges over the main assets of the Company and its subsidiaries.
David Lawrence, Chief Financial Officer of Valneva commented, “We are extremely pleased with this new funding from two great partners, which allows us to leverage future cash flows to advance our pipeline without diluting current shareholders. We appreciate Deerfield and OrbiMed’s renewed support in our development and business strategies. We’d also like to thank the EIB for its excellent support in the last few years”.
Valneva also confirmed its intention, subject to approval by the Company’s shareholders, to list on Nasdaq to support potential co-funding for the late stage development of its Lyme disease program. The Company completed Phase 2 patient recruitment at the end of September and now expects to report initial data (primary endpoint) mid-2020.
Guggenheim Securities served as financial advisor and Dechert LLP as legal advisor to Valneva in this transaction.
About Deerfield
Deerfield is an investment management firm committed to advancing healthcare through investment, information and philanthropy.
About OrbiMed
OrbiMed is a leading healthcare investment firm, with $13 billion in assets under management. OrbiMed invests globally across the healthcare industry, from start-ups to large multinational corporations, utilizing a range of private equity funds, public equity funds, and royalty/credit funds. OrbiMed maintains offices in New York City, San Francisco, Shanghai, Hong Kong, Mumbai and Herzliya. OrbiMed seeks to be a capital provider of choice, providing tailored financing solutions and global team resources and support to help build world-class healthcare companies.
About Valneva SE
Valneva is a specialty vaccine company providing prevention against diseases with major unmet medical needs. Valneva’s portfolio includes two commercial vaccines for travelers: IXIARO®/JESPECT® indicated for the prevention of Japanese encephalitis and DUKORAL® indicated for the prevention of cholera and, in some countries, prevention of diarrhea caused by ETEC. The Company has various vaccines in development including a unique vaccine against Lyme disease. Valneva has operations in Austria, Sweden, the United Kingdom, France, Canada and the U.S. with close to 500 employees. More information is available at www.valneva.com.
| Valneva Investor and Media Contacts Laetitia Bachelot-Fontaine Global Head of Investor Relations & Corporate Communications M +33 (0)6 4516 7099 investors@valneva.com |
Teresa Pinzolits Corporate Communications Specialist T +43 (0)1 20620 1116 communications@valneva.com |
Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains certain forward-looking statements relating to the business of Valneva, including with respect to the progress, timing and completion of research, development and clinical trials for product candidates, the ability to manufacture, market, commercialize and achieve market acceptance for product candidates, the ability to protect intellectual property and operate the business without infringing on the intellectual property rights of others, estimates for future performance and estimates regarding anticipated operating losses, future revenues, capital requirements and needs for additional financing. In addition, even if the actual results or development of Valneva are consistent with the forward-looking statements contained in this press release, those results or developments of Valneva may not be indicative of their in the future. In some cases, you can identify forward-looking statements by words such as "could," "should," "may," "expects," "anticipates," "believes," "intends," "estimates," "aims," "targets," or similar words. These forward-looking statements are based largely on the current expectations of Valneva as of the date of this press release and are subject to a number of known and unknown risks and uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievement expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements. In particular, the expectations of Valneva could be affected by, among other things, uncertainties involved in the development and manufacture of vaccines, unexpected clinical trial results, unexpected regulatory actions or delays, competition in general, currency fluctuations, the impact of the global and European credit crisis, and the ability to obtain or maintain patent or other proprietary intellectual property protection. In light of these risks and uncertainties, there can be no assurance that the forward-looking statements made during this presentation will in fact be realized. Valneva is providing the information in these materials as of this press release, and disclaim any intention or obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise.
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