On June 7, 2021 Cerecor Inc. (NASDAQ: CERC), a biopharmaceutical company focused on becoming a leader in the development and commercialization of treatments for rare and orphan diseases, reported 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 (Press release, Cerecor, JUN 7, 2021, View Source [SID1234583693]).
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"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.