North Carolina's BioDelivery Sciences International ($BDSI) locked down $20 million in debt financing, cash the company will use to develop two treatments with proprietary drug delivery methods.
MidCap Financial provided the funding to go toward Phase III trials of pain treatment BEMA Buprenorphine, which is delivered through a bioerodible polymer film, and supporting an NDA for Bunavail, a gel designed to treat opioid dependence. BDSI has teamed up with Endo Health Solutions ($ENDP) to commercialize BEMA Buprenorphine, and completing its Phase III studies would trigger another milestone payment for the company.
All the while, BDSI is working on a topical therapy for painful diabetic neuropathy, acquired for $2 million up front from Arcion Therapeutics in March. The company plans to kick off Phase IIb trials of the treatment this year, and it's on the line for as much as $35 million more to Arcion if the drug wins FDA approval.
With the loan, BDSI can buckle down on its projects and start spending immediately to get them to market, CEO Mark Sirgo said.
"We see this as a non-dilutive way to strengthen our balance sheet as we head into what could prove to be the most prolific time in BDSI's history," Sirgo said in a statement.
In November, BDSI raised $40 million from its investors to fund BEMA Buprenorphine's Phase III, moving on from a 2011 study in which the treatment failed to meet its primary endpoint.
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