BridgeBio Pharma, a commercial-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on genetic diseases and cancers, executed a definitive credit facility agreement with a syndicate of lenders for up to $750 million in financing. Morgan Stanley acted as the sole placement agent to BridgeBio on this transaction.
The facility, combined with BridgeBio Pharma’s existing cash balance as of Sept. 30 provides access to more than $1.2 billion to advance the company’s pipeline programs, support commercialization efforts and enable the company to pursue strategic business development opportunities. As structured, this financing is expected to fully fund BridgeBio’s portfolio of more than 30 drug development and discovery programs into 2024, independent of near-term milestone readouts.
This financing announcement follows BridgeBio’s repurchase of approximately $150 million in its own common stock under its 2021 share repurchase program, completing about $385.6 million of equity and capped call purchases in the aggregate since its initial public offering in 2019. In addition, the financing replaces the company’s $100 million debt facility with Hercules Capital.
“We are grateful to have the support of debt investors who are committed to helping us build the next great genetic medicine company and deliver meaningful therapies for patients in need. Since our founding, we have believed in the power and importance of innovative financing approaches to advance critical biomedical research and drug development, and we are grateful that our broad, diversified pipeline enables us to do this. By bringing on this additional capital, we have the potential to help more people living with genetic diseases and cancers as quickly as possible,” Brian Stephenson, CFO of BridgeBio Pharma, said.
“Potential breakthrough medicines should never languish on the shelf because of a lack of funding. By seizing inventive financing tools to fund its growing R&D pipeline, BridgeBio is working to ensure that promising medicines in development can advance into the clinic and toward potential commercial approval. The company’s groundbreaking approach to science and finance has made it a leader within the biotech industry and we are hopeful there are new methods we can explore to more fully unlock the power of investors to help patients,” Andrew Lo, co-founder and a member of BridgeBio Pharma’s board of directors, said.
The credit facility includes:
- $450 million funded on Nov. 17
- An additional $300 million to be funded at the company’s option following either positive topline results from Part A of its Phase 3 ATTRibute-CM trial of TTR stabilizer for transthyretin amyloid cardiomyopathy (ATTR-CM), which is expected by the end of the year, or positive proof-of-concept data for various pipeline programs by year end 2022, with $100 million available upon each proof-of-concept for up to three pipeline programs
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A fixed interest rate of 9%, with 3% eligible at the company’s discretion to be paid in kind and added to principal.
- A maturity date of Nov. 17, 2026
- An interest-only period for three years, which may be extended to four years upon success of the Part A readout
- No financial covenants.
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Latham & Watkins acted as counsel to BridgeBio Pharma on this transaction.
