14 June 2017 - - US-based biopharmaceutical company Concert Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: CNCE) has entered into a USD 30m venture debt financing agreement with Hercules Capital, Inc, the company said.

The debt is in the form of a secured loan, secured by Concert's assets, excluding intellectual property, and bearing interest at a calculated prime-based variable rate currently at 8.55%. 

Concert said the full amount of the loan was funded upon closing. The loan will mature on 1 June 2021.

Payments under the loan are interest-only for a period of 18 months, followed by equal monthly installments of principal and interest for 30 months thereafter.

In addition, Concert has an option under the terms of the loan to pay off the loan within six months with a 50% reduction in the end of term charge and without a prepayment penalty following the closing of the Vertex transaction.

In connection with the debt financing, Concert issued Hercules a warrant to purchase up to 61,273 of Concert's common shares at an exercise price of USD 12.24 per share.

Concert Pharmaceuticals is a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company focused on applying its DCE Platform (deuterated chemical entity platform) to create novel medicines designed to address unmet patient needs.

The company's approach starts with approved drugs in which deuterium substitution has the potential to enhance clinical safety, tolerability or efficacy.

Concert has a broad pipeline of innovative medicines targeting pulmonary diseases, including cystic fibrosis, autoimmune and inflammatory diseases and central nervous systems disorders.