OpGen Subsidiary Curetis GmbH Secures Access to Additional EUR 5.0 Million Non-Dilutive Debt Financing Tranche from EIB
July 09 2020 - 11:59AM
OpGen, Inc. (Nasdaq: OPGN, “OpGen”), a precision medicine company
harnessing the power of molecular diagnostics and bioinformatics to
help combat infectious disease, announced today that its wholly
owned subsidiary Curetis GmbH will have access to another EUR 5.0
million debt financing tranche under the amended EIB financing
facility.
Under the EIB debt financing facility originally
put in place in December 2016, Curetis now stands to receive
another EUR 5.0 million tranche of non-dilutive debt financing.
This additional tranche is earmarked to co-fund R&D programs
across several of the platforms and the entire product portfolio of
OpGen group companies Curetis and Ares Genetics as it relates to
COVID-19. This additional tranche, which can be drawn down at the
sole discretion of Curetis within nine months from the Effective
Date of this amendment, will also have a five-year term to maturity
from such draw-down date. All interest payments during that
five-year term are compounded and become payable only upon maturity
of the principal amount of this tranche. The EIB tranche
disbursement will become available subject to typical conditions
precedent including a pledge of certain Curetis IP rights as
security to EIB. The parties have furthermore agreed on a 0.7%
participation percentage interest (PPI). Upon maturity of the
tranche, i.e. not before H2-2025 (and no later than early 2027
depending on draw-down date), EIB will be entitled to an additional
payment that is equity-linked and equivalent to 0.7% of the then
total equity valuation of OpGen. The parties have also adjusted the
PPI percentage applicable to the previous EIB tranche of EUR 5.0
million which was funded in June 2019 from its original 2.1% PPI in
Curetis N.V.’s equity value upon maturity to a new 0.3% PPI in
OpGen’s equity value upon maturity between mid-2024 and mid-2025.
This adjustment follows the respective stockholder ownership
interest in OpGen following the business combination with Curetis
as of April 1, 2020. All other terms and conditions of the EIB
financing contract with Curetis remain unchanged.
“We are very pleased to see continued strong
support and funding commitment from the EIB,” said Oliver Schacht,
PhD, CEO of OpGen and Managing Director of Curetis GmbH. “The
additional funding will allow us to continue executing on our
R&D programs such as the Unyvero A50 and A30 RQ platforms with
a focus on COVID-19 related applications, as well as the Ares
Genetics and combined OpGen R&D programs in AI-powered
bioinformatics.”
About OpGen, Inc.
OpGen, Inc. (Gaithersburg, MD, USA) is a
precision medicine company harnessing the power of molecular
diagnostics and bioinformatics to help combat infectious disease.
Along with our subsidiaries, Curetis GmbH and Ares Genetics GmbH,
we are developing and commercializing molecular microbiology
solutions helping to guide clinicians with more rapid and
actionable information about life threatening infections to improve
patient outcomes, and decrease the spread of infections caused by
multidrug-resistant microorganisms, or MDROs. OpGen’s product
portfolio includes Unyvero, Acuitas AMR Gene Panel and Acuitas®
Lighthouse, and the ARES Technology Platform including ARESdb,
using NGS technology and AI-powered bioinformatics solutions for
antibiotic response prediction.
For more information, please visit
www.opgen.com.
Forward-Looking Statements
This press release includes statements regarding
the amendment of the EIB financing agreement for purposes of
R&D programs related to COVID-19 diagnostic tests by OpGen and
its subsidiaries, Curetis and Ares Genetics. These statements and
other statements regarding OpGen’s future plans and goals
constitute "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of
Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the
Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and are intended to qualify for the
safe harbor from liability established by the Private Securities
Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such statements are subject to risks
and uncertainties that are often difficult to predict, are beyond
our control, and which may cause results to differ materially from
expectations. Factors that could cause our results to differ
materially from those described include, but are not limited to,
our ability to successfully, timely and cost-effectively develop,
seek and obtain regulatory clearance for and commercialize our
product and services offerings, the rate of adoption of our
products and services by hospitals and other healthcare providers,
the realization of expected benefits of our business combination
transaction with Curetis GmbH, the success of our commercialization
efforts, the impact of COVID-19 on the Company’s operations,
financial results, and commercialization efforts as well as on
capital markets and general economic conditions, the effect on our
business of existing and new regulatory requirements, and other
economic and competitive factors. For a discussion of the most
significant risks and uncertainties associated with OpGen's
business, please review our filings with the Securities and
Exchange Commission. You are cautioned not to place undue reliance
on these forward-looking statements, which are based on our
expectations as of the date of this press release and speak only as
of the date of this press release. We undertake no obligation to
publicly update or revise any forward-looking statement, whether as
a result of new information, future events or otherwise.
OpGen: Oliver Schacht President and CEO
InvestorRelations@opgen.com
OpGen Press Contact: Matthew Bretzius
FischTank PR matt@fischtankpr.com
OpGen Investor Contact: Joe Green Edison
Group jgreen@edisongroup.com
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