Zug, Switzerland, April 9, 2018 - Auris Medical Holding AG (NASDAQ: EARS), a clinical-stage company dedicated to developing therapeutics that address important unmet medical needs in neurotology, today announced the voluntary early repayment of part of its loan facility with Hercules Capital, Inc. The repayment will result in a significant reduction of the Company's interest expense.
Auris Medical has entered into an agreement with Hercules whereby the terms of the Company's loan and security agreement with Hercules were amended to eliminate the $5 million liquidity covenant in exchange for a repayment of $5 million principal amount outstanding under the agreement. The amendment also eliminated any early repayment fees associated with such repayment. The repayment will reduce Auris Medical's annual interest expense by more than $0.5 million. Apart from these savings, the repayment does not affect the Company's previously announced cash runway, as the Company had not included $5 million of cash on its balance sheet in its cash runway forecast, due to the existence of the liquidity covenant under the loan and security agreement.
Following the early repayment, less than $4 million in principal remain outstanding under the Hercules loan facility. Auris Medical and Hercules have agreed to enter into further negotiations regarding the loan and security agreement, which could include a restructuring of the amortization and repayment terms.
About Auris Medical
Auris Medical is a Swiss biopharmaceutical company dedicated to developing therapeutics that address important unmet medical needs in neurotology. The company is focused on the Phase 3 development of treatments for acute inner ear hearing loss (AM-111) and for acute inner ear tinnitus (Keyzilen®; AM-101) by way of intratympanic administration with biocompatible gel formulations. In addition, Auris Medical is developing intranasal betahistine for the treatment of vertigo (AM-125) as well as early-stage research and development projects. The Company was founded in 2003 and is headquartered in Zug, Switzerland. The shares of Auris Medical Holding AG trade on the NASDAQ Capital Market under the symbol "EARS."
Forward-looking Statements
This press release may contain statements that 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. Forward-looking statements are statements other than historical fact and may include statements that address future operating, financial or business performance or Auris Medical's strategies or expectations. In some cases, you can identify these statements by forward-looking words such as "may," "might," "will," "should," "expects," "plans," "anticipates," "believes," "estimates," "predicts," "projects," "potential," "outlook" or "continue," and other comparable terminology. Forward-looking statements are based on management's current expectations and beliefs and involve significant risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results, developments and business decisions to differ materially from those contemplated by these statements. These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, Auris Medical's need for and ability to raise substantial additional funding to continue the development of its product candidates, the timing and conduct of clinical trials of Auris Medical's product candidates, including the likelihood that the TACTT3 clinical trial with Keyzilen® will not meet its endpoints , the clinical utility of Auris Medical's product candidates, the timing or likelihood of regulatory filings and approvals, Auris Medical's intellectual property position and Auris Medical's financial position, including the impact of any future acquisitions, dispositions, partnerships, license transactions or changes to Auris Medical's capital structure, including future securities offerings. These risks and uncertainties also include, but are not limited to, those described under the caption "Risk Factors" in Auris Medical's Annual Report on Form 20-F and future filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date they are made, and Auris Medical does not undertake any obligation to update them in light of new information, future developments or otherwise, except as may be required under applicable law. All forward-looking statements are qualified in their entirety by this cautionary statement.
Company contact: Hernan Levett, Chief Financial Officer, +41 61 201 1350