BioCryst Pharmaceuticals closed a $23 million senior credit facility with Midcap Financial.

The facility was fully funded at closing and bears a variable interest rate based upon LIBOR, currently at 8.5%, an interest-only period through fiscal 2017 and scheduled principal and interest payments for the following 40 months. The company has the option to repay the facility at any time prior to the scheduled principal repayment schedule.

“The proceeds from this facility extend our cash runway into the first quarter of 2018 and provide non-dilutive capital to fund our rare disease development programs, while enabling us to maintain a 12-month cash runway subsequent to the expected timing of APEX-1 results,” said Jon P. Stonehouse, president and CEO. “We expect the facility to be repaid from RAPIVAB-related approval milestones associated with our Seqirus licensing agreement and revenue from the replenishment of the U.S. Government national stockpiling of RAPIVAB.”

BioCryst Pharmaceuticals designs, optimizes and develops novel small molecule drugs that block key enzymes involved in rare diseases.