- This credit facility is intended to support the progress and expansion of Inventiva’s pipeline
- The credit facility consists of two tranches of €25 million each
- Credit agreement is part of the European Investment Bank’s strategy to support biotech companies developing a high-level of expertise in various therapeutic areas with significant unmet medical needs
Inventiva (Euronext Paris and Nasdaq: IVA), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on the development of oral small molecule therapies for the treatment of patients with non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) and other diseases with significant unmet medical needs, today announced the signing of a €50 million bullet credit facility agreement with the European Investment Bank (“EIB”). The Company plans to use the facility toward its preclinical and clinical pipeline, including to help fund a portion of its Phase III clinical trial of lanifibranor in patients with NASH.
The facility is divided into two tranches of €25 million each. The disbursement of the first tranche (“Tranche A”) is subject to the completion of certain conditions precedent specified in the credit facility agreement. The second tranche (“Tranche B”) is subject to the full drawdown of Tranche A in addition to the achievement of certain conditions precedents. The maturity date of any borrowings under the facility is four years after disbursement of Tranche A and three years after disbursement of Tranche B. It is therefore expected that the reimbursement of the interests and capital of this credit facility will happen after the publication of the headline results of the part 1 of the Phase III clinical trial of lanifibranor in patients with NASH, which are expected in the second half of 2024.
Jean Volatier, Chief Financial Officer of Inventiva, stated: “We are very pleased with this credit facility, one of the largest granted by the EIB to a biotech. We expect to use any borrowings under the facility to support further development of our pipeline, especially the clinical development of lanifibranor to seek accelerated approval in the US and conditional approval in the EU.”
“EIB is proud to finance a European biotech company that is at the forefront of innovation in its field and embodies Europe's dynamism in the development of new treatments, said Ambroise Fayolle, Vice-President of the European Investment Bank. The expertise developed by Inventiva is all the more necessary as it aims to develop breakthrough treatments for patients suffering from NASH and other diseases with unmet medical needs today."
In addition to capitalized interest of 8% for Tranche A and 7% for Tranche B, Inventiva will issue warrants to the benefit of the EIB in varied amounts according to the relevant tranche, the amount of equity raised or the amount of cash received in the context of a partnership or other transaction and the average price per share paid by investors in the context of the equity raise[1] .
The strike price of each warrant will be equal to 95% of the volume weighted average of the trading price of Inventiva’s ordinary shares over a number of trading days preceding the day the issue price is set. The warrants will have a term of 12 years and become exercisable upon the maturity of Tranche A or upon the occurrence of certain events (e.g., change of control, event of default repayment demand), thus avoiding dilution for existing shareholders in the near term.
At the maturity of Tranche A or upon the occurrence of certain events, the EIB will be granted an option to sell its warrants to Inventiva for an amount equal to the difference between the fair market value and the exercise price of the warrants[2], as an alternative to the exercise of the warrants.
Background information
About the European Investment Bank (EIB)
The EIB is working to put the EU at the forefront of the next wave of innovation, especially in the health sector. In response to the Covid-19 health crisis, the EIB has released €6 billion for investments in the health sector to support medical infrastructure, additional research activities or other financing related to vaccines and treatments. As a European bank supporting the climate, the EIB is one of the main fund providers in the green transition towards a more low-carbon and sustainable growth model.
About Inventiva
Inventiva is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on the research and development of oral small molecule therapies for the treatment of patients with NASH and other diseases with significant unmet medical needs. The Company benefits from a strong expertise and experience in the domain of compounds targeting nuclear receptors, transcription factors and epigenetic modulation. Inventiva’s lead product candidate, lanifibranor, is currently in a pivotal Phase III clinical trial, NATiV3, for the treatment of adult patients with NASH, a common and progressive chronic liver disease for which there are currently no approved therapies.
The Company has established a strategic collaboration with AbbVie in the area of autoimmune diseases that resulted in the discovery of the drug candidate cedirogant (ABBV-157), an oral ROR inverse agonist which is being evaluated in a Phase IIb clinical trial, led by AbbVie, in adult patients with moderate to severe chronic plaque psoriasis. Inventiva’s pipeline also includes odiparcil, a drug candidate for the treatment of adult mucopolysaccharidoses (MPS) VI patients. As part of Inventiva’s decision to focus clinical efforts on the development of lanifibranor, it suspended its clinical efforts relating to odiparcil and is reviewing available options with respect to its potential further development. Inventiva is in the process of selecting an oncology development candidate for its Hippo signalling pathway program.
The Company has a scientific team of approximately 80 people with deep expertise in the fields of biology, medicinal and computational chemistry, pharmacokinetics and pharmacology, and clinical development. It owns an extensive library of approximately 240,000 pharmacologically relevant molecules, approximately 60% of which are proprietary, as well as a wholly‑owned research and development facility.
Inventiva is a public company listed on compartment C of the regulated market of Euronext Paris (ticker: IVA - ISIN: FR0013233012) and on the Nasdaq Global Market in the United States (ticker: IVA). www.inventivapharma.com
[1] Or in the absence of share issuance for the first tranche, the average price per share over the last 90 trading days preceding the subscription of the warrants.
[2] Subject to a cap equal to the aggregate amount disbursed under the credit facility agreement.
