Vera Therapeutics, a late clinical-stage biotechnology company focused on developing and commercializing transformative treatments for patients with serious immunological diseases, entered into a new credit facility providing for up to $500 million of term loans with its current partner Oxford Finance. The new credit facility will replace Vera’s existing $50 million credit facility. The initial funding of the new credit facility will be in a principal amount of $75 million and is expected to occur on June 4, 2025.
“We have crossed a significant Vera milestone with the primary endpoint results from the pivotal atacicept ORIGIN 3 trial; and given the data we presented earlier, we expect this to enable a BLA submission to the FDA in the fourth quarter of this year, which may allow for approval and commercial launch in 2026. If approved, we believe that atacicept has the potential to advance the standard of care in IgA nephropathy,” Marshall Fordyce, founder and CEO of Vera Therapeutics, said. “The Vera team is well-positioned to build on the success of the lead atacicept development program in IgAN, with the expansion into additional potential indications in other autoimmune kidney diseases and beyond.”
The refinancing significantly reduces interest expense and improves financial flexibility and access to capital as compared to the existing credit facility, with the new credit facility having more borrower-favorable terms overall than those under the existing credit facility. The refinancing enhances Vera’s ability to generate cash and manage its capital structure efficiently while providing additional working capital flexibility to support commercial launch and strategic initiatives.
“Our partnership with Oxford over the past three years has been key to supporting Vera’s growth and we are happy to continue this incredibly productive relationship,” Sean Grant, chief financial officer of Vera, said. “We are also very pleased to be able to execute this non-dilutive transaction in today’s market environment with Oxford. Through a competitive process, we secured favorable terms with our current lender, eliminated exit fees from the existing credit facility, and closed the refinancing in a very efficient manner.”
