Verona Pharma has secured up to $650 million to aid the potential launch of its COPD candidate ensifentrine.
Under new agreements with Oaktree Capital Management and OMERS Life Sciences, Verona can access up to $400 million in term loans in five separate tranches, plus up to $250 million from the sale of redeemable interest in future ensifentrine revenue.
The pharma company is taking out $55 million upon closing the debt facility, it announced Thursday.
“These funds, together with our existing cash of $255 million, are expected to support the Company through commercialization and growth beyond 2026,” CEO David Zaccardelli said in a news release.
If approved, Verona said ensifentrine could introduce the first new approach to inhaled COPD maintenance therapy in more than two decades. The drug passed two Phase 3 trials in 2022, and the FDA is expected to make an approval decision by June 26.
Verona’s commercial chief Chris Martin said in 2022 that the drug “has the potential based on the data to be priced at a premium versus the current nebulised products.”
“We believe ensifentrine’s impressive clinical data generated to date and unique mechanism of action position it well to become a paradigm-shifting advancement in the maintenance treatment of COPD, a condition with continued unmet need,” Aman Kumar, co-portfolio manager for Oaktree’s life sciences lending platform, said in a news release.
The agreement replaces a prior debt facility inked earlier this year with Oxford Finance and Hercules Capital.