BioPharma Credit puts $165m into pharma firm Collegium via loan

Specialist life sciences investor BioPharma Credit has entered into a definitive senior secured term loan agreement with Collegium Pharmaceutical, alongside the BioPharma-V fund, it announced on Friday.

The London-listed specialist fund said it would invest $165m (£127.62m), and BioPharma-V would put in an additional $35m.

It described Collegium Pharmaceutical as a publicly-traded biopharmaceutical company focussed on developing and commercialising new medicines for “responsible pain management”, with a current market capitalisation of around $680m.

Collegium currently markets ‘Xtampza ER’, which is an abuse-deterrent, extended-release oral formulation of oxycodone, and ‘Nucynta’, or tapentadol, which is a centrally-acting synthetic analgesic.

It provided net sales guidance for 2020 of between $150m and $160m in net sales of Xtampza ER, and $170m to $180m for Nucynta.

Under the terms of the transaction, BioPharma Credit said it would invest $165m in a single drawing, and BioPharma-V would invest $35m at the same time, with the company acting as collateral agent.

The loan would mature in January 2024, and would bear interest at three-month LIBOR plus 7.50% per annum, subject to a 2.00% floor, alongside a one-time additional consideration of 2.50% of the loan amount payable upon funding.

“We are pleased to partner with Collegium Pharmaceutical in this transaction,” said Pedro Gonzalez de Cosio, chief executive officer of BioPharma Credit’s advisor, Pharmakon Advisors.

“Led by an excellent management team, Collegium Pharmaceutical is marketing meaningfully differentiated products that treat moderate to severe pain.”

At 0909 GMT, shares in BioPharma Credit were down 0.2% at $1 in London.