Date: 2012-05-14
Type of information: Fundraising
Company: Intercell (Austria)
Investors: BB Biotech (Switzerland)
Novartis (Switzerland)
healthcare and institutional investors
Amount: € 25 million
Funding type: loan - private placement
Planned used: These funds are expected to secure Intercell’s funding needs into financial self-sustainability. It intends to use the net proceeds principally for the research and development of its pipeline products and further development of its technology platforms, until expected cash flows from its first approved product IXIARO®/JESPECT® will be sufficient to fund operations.
Others: Intercell has announced the signing of a combined debt and equity financing with BB Biotech. The investment through a fully owned subsidiary of BB Biotech AG consists of a € 20.0 million secured loan and a commitment to invest € 5.0 million as part of a proposed equity private placement. Intercell is in discussions with specialized healthcare investors regarding proposals for additional investment of € 10.0 to 15.0 million as part of the Private Placement.
The BB Biotech investment and the Private Placement should close before the end of May.
The € 20.0 million secured Term Loan provided by BB Biotech has a six-year term. Repayment starts in the fourth year through twelve equal quarterly installments. The loan carries a variable interest rate of EURIBOR plus 6.5% (but not less than 10.9 %). In addition, Intercell will pay BB Biotech a royalty of 5.0% on its sales revenues from IXIARO®/JESPECT® (decreasing to 1.5% for sales revenues in excess of € 50.0 million) for a ten-year period. Intercell has certain buy-out rights, which cap the overall interest, royalty and principal repayments. The loan is secured by a security interest in the assets related to IXIARO®/JESPECT®. This vaccine to prevent Japanese Encephalitis (JE) is the Company's first product on the market.
The € 5.0 million equity investment by BB Biotech will be undertaken by way of a subscription for approximately 1,962,000 Intercell shares at an issue price of ca. €2.55 per share, as part of the Private Placement, the remainder of which will be placed with selected institutional investors. Intercell’s Management Board has resolved to exclude the subscription rights of existing shareholders in this capital increase.
Intercell's pipeline of investigational products includes a development program for the pediatric use of IXIARO®/JESPECT® in non?endemic markets and the development for endemic markets in collaboration with Biological E. of a comparable vaccine based on Intercell’s technology. The portfolio comprises different product candidates in clinical trials: a Pseudomonas aeruginosa vaccine candidate (Phase II/III) partnered with Novartis, a vaccine to prevent Pandemic Influenza by combining Intercell's Vaccine Enhancement Patch with an injected vaccine (Phase I), a vaccine candidate against infections with C. difficile (Phase I) as well as numerous investigative vaccine programs using the Company's IC31® adjuvant, e.g. in a Tuberculosis vaccine candidate (Phase II).
* On May 14, 2012, Intercell announced that it successfully completed a previously announced financing transaction consisting of a € 20.0 million secured loan provided by BB Biotech and an equity private placementof approximately € 15.2 million. The Intercell Shares were placed at an adjusted price of € 2.30, corresponding to the opening share price of Intercell shares on May 14, 2012. BB Biotech participated in the previously announced Private Placement with an investment of € 5.0 million, corresponding to a final number of shares of 2,173,913 subscribed for at the adjusted Private Placement price.
In the Private Placement, a total number of 6,591,742 shares were subscribed. In addition to the 2,173,913 shares subscribed by BB Biotech, 982,829 shares were placed to Novartis, Intercell’s biggest shareholder, which will maintain its current 14.9 shareholding, and the remaining 3,435,000 shares were placed to selected healthcare and institutional investors in the Private Placement. The issuance of the new shares is expected to take place on or around June 1, 2012.
Therapeutic area: Infectious diseases
