On December 10, 2020, Opiant Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a specialty pharmaceutical company developing medicines to treat addictions and drug overdose, announced that it has entered into a $50 million convertible note purchase and security agreement with a syndicate of Pontifax Medison Finance, a healthcare-dedicated venture and debt fund, and Kreos Capital, Europe’s leading growth debt firm. Opiant plans to use the proceeds to fund the potential future commercialization of OPNT003, nasal nalmefene, an investigational treatment for opioid overdose, which the company aims to file for approval by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) at the end of 2021. Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati represented Opiant Pharmaceuticals in the transaction.
Under the agreement, Opiant will be able to draw up to $50 million in three tranches. The first tranche of $20 million was funded at closing on December 10, 2020; a second tranche of $10 million will be available upon submission of a New Drug Application to the FDA; and a third tranche of $20 million will be funded upon FDA approval of an opioid overdose product. Each tranche will mature over five years and have an interest-only period of 30 months at an average rate of 8.75 percent. Subject to certain limitations, Pontifax and Kreos can elect to convert up to half of their outstanding loan into shares of Opiant’s common stock at a conversion price of $19.64 per share.
The Wilson Sonsini team that advised Opiant Pharmaceuticals in the transaction includes John Mao, Michael Rosati, Gordon Cheng, and Elton Satusky.
For more information, please see Opiant Pharmaceuticals' press release.