DALLAS– Taysha Gene Therapies, Inc. (Nasdaq: TSHA), a patient-centric gene therapy company focused on developing and commercializing AAV-based gene therapies for the treatment of monogenic diseases of the central nervous system in both rare and large patient populations, today announced that it has entered into a loan and security agreement with Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) that provides Taysha with up to $100 million of borrowing capacity.
“Access to this non-dilutive financing at an attractive cost of capital, along with the current cash on hand, will provide Taysha with operational and financial flexibility to achieve numerous value-generating milestones including a potential regulatory approval for TSHA-120 in giant axonal neuropathy, or GAN,” said RA Session II, Chief Executive Officer of Taysha. “Additional milestones include the release of Phase 1/2 data in the highest dose cohort in GAN, and Phase 1/2 data in GM2 gangliosidosis, Rett syndrome, CLN1 disease and SURF1-associated Leigh syndrome. We are pleased to partner with SVB as we continue to execute on our ambitious business plan.”
This non-dilutive financing provides Taysha with up to $100 million, with $40 million available at closing of which Taysha has drawn $30.0 million. The Company has the option to draw down the remaining tranches, subject to certain conditions. The interest rate is the greater of 7.0% or the WSJ Prime Rate plus 3.75%. There are no financial covenants and no warrants associated with the term loan.
“Our financial commitment to Taysha speaks to our confidence in its core strategies and is consistent with our support of innovative life sciences businesses,” said Michael White, Head of Business Development, Life Science & Healthcare, Silicon Valley Bank. “We are delighted to provide additional capital for the Company to further advance its robust development pipeline and achieve key value-generating milestones in the years to come.”
“In the last 12 months, we have quickly made the transition from a private to public company and from preclinical to clinical to pivotal-stage,” said Kamran Alam, Chief Financial Officer of Taysha. “Building upon this momentum, we expect this non-dilutive financing to enable us to be well positioned to maximize long-term stockholder value.”
