21st Nov 2022 07:00
BioPharma Credit PLC
21 November 2022
BIOPHARMA CREDIT PLC
(THE "COMPANY")
NEW INVESTMENT OF UP TO US$50.0 MILLION
BioPharma Credit PLC (LSE: BPCR), the specialist life sciences debt investment trust, is pleased to announce that it, through its fully owned subsidiary, together with BioPharma Credit Investments V (Master) LP ("BioPharma-V" and jointly with the Company, the "Lenders") has entered into a definitive senior secured loan agreement with Immunocore Limited ("Immunocore"). The Company will invest up to US$50.0 million and BioPharma-V will invest up to an additional US$50.0 million.
Based in the UK, Immunocore is a publicly traded biopharmaceutical company with a current market capitalization of ~US$2.9 billion (Ticker: IMCR - NASDAQ). Immunocore currently markets KIMMTRAK (tebentafusp-tebn), a treatment for metastatic uveal melanoma, a rare form of eye cancer. Approved by the FDA on 26 January 2022 and the EU on 4 April 2022, KIMMTRAK generated US$40.4 million in sales during the third quarter of 2022.
Under the terms of the transaction, the Company will invest up to US$50.0 million (US$25.0 million in the first tranche, which was drawn on 8 November 2022, and up to an additional US$25.0 million by 30 June 2024) and BioPharma-V will invest up to US$50.0 million in parallel, with the Company acting as collateral agent. The loan will mature in November 2028 and will bear interest at 9.75% per annum for the first tranche and 3-month SOFR plus 8.75 per cent. per annum subject to a 1.00 per cent. floor for the second tranche, along with an additional consideration of 2.50 per cent. The additional consideration with respect to the first tranche was paid at funding and will be due and payable with respect to the second tranche either at the funding of the second tranche or upon expiration of the second tranche commitment.
Pedro Gonzalez de Cosio, CEO of Pharmakon Advisors, LP. the Company's investment adviser said:
"We are excited to partner with Immunocore as it continues to advance in its mission. Led by a highly experienced management team, Immunocore is a pioneering, commercial-stage T cell receptor biotechnology company working to develop and commercialize a new generation of transformative medicines to address unmet needs in cancer, infectious and autoimmune diseases."
Enquiries
Buchanan
David Rydell / Mark Court / Jamie Hooper / Henry Wilson
+44 (0) 20 7466 5000
Notes to Editors
BioPharma Credit PLC is London's only specialist debt investor to the life sciences industry and joined the LSE in March 2017. The Company seeks to provide long-term shareholder returns, principally in the form of sustainable income distributions from exposure to the life sciences industry. The Company seeks to achieve this objective primarily through investments in debt assets secured by royalties or other cash flows derived from the sales of approved life sciences products.
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