Ceptaris Therapeutics, Inc., a privately held specialty pharmaceutical company, secured $15 million in venture debt financing from Silicon Valley Bank and Oxford Finance.

The New Drug Application (NDA) for Ceptaris’ drug candidate, mechlorethamine gel, is currently undergoing review by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the treatment of early stage (stages I-IIA) mycosis fungoides, a type of Cutaneous T-Cell Lymphoma (CTCL).

Ceptaris received $7.5 million at closing and has access to the remaining $7.5 million if the NDA is approved by the FDA. The funding will be used for ongoing operational expenses and preparation for commercialization of its investigational drug, mechlorethamine gel. Ceptaris’ primary venture capital investors include Vivo Ventures, Palo Alto Investors, Burrill & Company, Osage Ventures, Aperture Venture Partners and BioAdvance.

“We are very pleased with our venture debt relationships with both SVB and Oxford and the additional capital it provides Ceptaris for pre- and post-launch activities,” said Stephen Tullman, president and CEO at Ceptaris. “Management has worked with both lending institutions in prior companies, including Ception Therapeutics and Vicept Therapeutics, and we look forward to continuing these relationships.”

Silicon Valley Bank is a commercial bank for companies in the technology, life science, cleantech, venture capital, private equity and premium wine industries.

Oxford Finance is a specialty finance firm providing senior secured loans to public and private life sciences and healthcare services companies worldwide.