7 November 2024

BIOPHARMA CREDIT PLC

(THE "COMPANY") 

NEW INVESTMENT OF UP TO US$250 MILLION

BioPharma Credit PLC (LSE: BPCR), the specialist life sciences debt investment trust, is pleased to announce that it, through its fully owned subsidiary, together with BioPharma Credit Investments V (Master) LP ("BioPharma-V" and jointly with the Company, the "Lenders") has entered into a definitive senior secured loan agreement with Geron Corporation ("Geron") (the "Loan Agreement"). The Company will invest up to US$100 million and BioPharma-V will invest up to an additional US$150 million in parallel, with the Company acting as collateral agent.

Based in the US, Geron is a commercial-stage biopharmaceutical company with a current market capitalization of ~US2.5 billion committed to extending and enhancing the lives of people living with  blood cancers. Geron's telomerase inhibitor RYTELO™ (imetelstat) is approved in the United States for the treatment of certain adult patients with lower-risk myelodysplastic syndromes (LR-MDS) with transfusion dependent anemia. Geron is also conducting a pivotal Phase 3 clinical trial of imetelstat in JAK-inhibitor relapsed/refractory myelofibrosis (R/R MF), as well as studies in other myeloid hematologic malignancies. Rytelo was launched in the United States on June 27, 2024.  Net product revenue for the quarter ending September 30, 2024 was US$28.2 million.

Under the terms of the transaction, the Company will invest up to US$100 million across three tranches:

·      Tranche A of US$50 million was drawn on 1 November 2024;

·      Tranche B of US$30 million is available to be drawn by 31 December 2025, subject to customary conditions precedent set forth in the Loan Agreement; and

·      Tranche C of up to US$20 million will be available upon achievement of certain revenue milestones and customary conditions precedent set forth in the Loan Agreement until 31 December 2025.

The loan will mature in November 2029 and will bear interest at 3-month SOFR plus 5.75 per cent. per annum subject to a 3.00 per cent. SOFR floor, along with an additional consideration of 2.50 per cent. The additional consideration with respect to Tranche A was paid at the funding of Tranche A and will be due and payable with respect to Tranche B and Tranche C at the funding of those tranches.

Pedro Gonzalez de Cosio, CEO of Pharmakon Advisors, LP, the Company's investment adviser said:

"The Geron team is driving commercial success in the U.S. with RYTELO, an innovative first-in-class telomerase inhibitor, and we look forward to supporting the company and management team as they plan for a potential launch in the EU and continue to develop the asset in additional hematologic malignancies."

Enquiries

Burson Buchanan

Mark Court / Jamie Hooper / Henry Wilson / Samuel Adams

+44 (0) 20 7466 5000

biopharmacredit@buchanan.uk.com

Notes to Editors

BioPharma Credit PLC is London's only specialist debt investor to the life sciences industry and joined the LSE in March 2017. The Company seeks to provide long-term shareholder returns, principally in the form of sustainable income distributions from exposure to the life sciences industry. The Company seeks to achieve this objective primarily through investments in debt assets secured by royalties or other cash flows derived from the sales of approved life sciences products.