Valneva Announces New $85 Million Financing Arrangement with Leading US Healthcare Funds Deerfield and OrbiMed
03 Febbraio 2020 - 10:30PM
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 DeerfieldDeerfield 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 ContactsLaetitia
Bachelot-FontaineGlobal Head of Investor Relations & Corporate
CommunicationsM +33 (0)6 4516 7099investors@valneva.com |
Teresa
PinzolitsCorporate Communications SpecialistT +43 (0)1 20620
1116communications@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.
- 2020_02_03_VLA_Deerfield-Orbi_PR_EN