TearLab entered into a term loan agreement with CRG and certain of its affiliate funds. The agreement provides TearLab with up to $35 million of available borrowing capacity.

Under the terms of the agreement, CRG will initially provide $15 million. Up to $20 million of additional funding will be available to TearLab, at its option, through September 2016, subject to the satisfaction of certain revenue milestones and other borrowing conditions. The agreement has a term of six years and bears interest at 13% per annum, with quarterly, interest-only payments for the first four years. At the company’s option, during the first four years a portion of the interest payments may be compounded and paid together with the principal in the fifth and sixth years.

“When looking for the right strategic financing partner, it was important to balance the exciting growth opportunity that we see ahead of us with our capital needs and our commitment to maximizing shareholder value,” commented Elias Vamvakas, TearLab’s CEO. “We were impressed with CRG’s ability to tailor a financing structure without common stock or warrants, providing us with the necessary resources to continue executing our growth strategy under attractive, non-dilutive terms. CRG’s breadth of healthcare experience, deep knowledge of our business, and long-term outlook convinced us that they were the right partner for TearLab.”

“This transaction highlights our focus on providing innovative commercial-stage healthcare companies with flexible financing solutions, said Charles Tate,” chairman of CRG. “TearLab is a pioneer in bringing simple, easy to use and objective point-of-care diagnostics to the eye care space and we are excited about its significant, long-term growth potential.”

TearLab develops and markets lab-on-a-chip technologies that enable eye care practitioners to improve standard of care by objectively and quantitatively testing for disease markers in tears at the point-of-care.