Cerus Corporation Secures $90 Million Debt Financing to Advance INTERCEPT Pathogen Inactivation Technology for Safer Blood Transfusions

VCBeat (WeChat ID: vcbeat) has learned that on April 1, 2019, biopharmaceutical company Cerus Corporation completed a new round of debt financing. The financing was provided by MidCap Financial, a specialized financial firm, and included a $70 million term loan and a $5 million revolving credit facility (with the capacity to expand up to $20 million), bringing the total financing amount to $90 million.

Following the completion of this round of financing, Cerus Corporation secured an initial term loan of $40 million. Upon achieving positive trial results or commercial milestones, the company will be eligible for two additional tranches of $15 million each. Additionally, the company obtained a $5 million revolving credit facility to serve as working capital and support its business growth over the coming years. Under the agreement between the parties, the revolving credit facility may be expanded to $20 million. To date, Cerus Corporation has completed three rounds of financing. In 2014, the company received $30 million in debt financing from Oxford Finance Corporation.

Cerus Corporation, founded in 1991 and headquartered in California, USA, is a leading biopharmaceutical company in the field of blood safety. In the early 1990s, the company began developing pathogen inactivation technology, which exhibits no long-term toxicity, carcinogenicity, or reproductive toxicity, representing one of the key development trends in blood safety assurance technologies.

It is understood that blood transfusion is a common therapeutic measure in surgical procedures and emergency resuscitation. However, the infusion of blood or blood products contaminated with viruses or bacteria can cause significant harm to the patient’s body. Cerus Corporation has developed a blood pathogen inactivation system named INTERCEPT, which aims to enhance blood safety and reduce the risk of transfusion-transmitted infections by inactivating various pathogens (such as viruses, bacteria, and parasites) that may be present in donated blood. This system treats plasma using ultraviolet light and a chemical compound called amotosalen, which inactivates viral pathogens. Plasma processed through this system has been proven to effectively reduce a wide range of viral and bacterial pathogens transmissible via blood, thereby helping to prevent diseases such as HIV/AIDS, hepatitis, West Nile virus, chikungunya, malaria, and dengue fever.

Kevin D. Green, Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Cerus Corporation, stated, “This financing provides ample capital to support our business growth. MidCap Financial brings extensive experience and specialized expertise in lending to life sciences companies. Together with MidCap Financial, we will establish INTERCEPT as the industry standard in the field of transfusion safety.”

In December 2014, INTERCEPT received approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to reduce the risk of transfusion-transmitted infections. The system is currently marketed in the United States, Russia, Europe, the Middle East, and other countries and regions.

MidCap Financial, established in 2008 and headquartered in Maryland, USA, is a specialized financial company dedicated to providing debt financing solutions to companies across various industries.

(Compiled by Jiao Yanli)