WOODSIDE, Calif., Jan. 12, 2021 – Runway Growth Capital LLC (“Runway”), a leading provider of growth loans to both venture and non-venture backed companies seeking an alternative to raising equity, today announced the close of a senior secured term loan of $50 million to VERO Biotech LLC, an Atlanta, Georgia-based biotechnology company focused on saving lives, alleviating suffering, and improving the health economics of care.
In the past two quarters, Runway has announced the closing of three life sciences sector deals totaling $130 million in aggregate; VERO Biotech joins Gynesonics and Intact Vascular in Runway’s life sciences portfolio.
VERO Biotech (formerly known as GeNO LLC) is a biotechnology company focused on the design, development, and commercialization of next-generation products to meet the needs of patients with a variety of pulmonary and cardiac diseases. The company has developed the GENOSYL® Delivery System (GENOSYL DS), the only “tankless” delivery system of inhaled nitric oxide approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The GENOSYL DS reshapes the form factor (e.g. cassette-based and portable) for the delivery and use of nitric oxide, a vasodilator and is proven to play a critical role in the care of patients with adult respiratory distress syndrome and persistent pulmonary hypertension of the neonate.
Inhaled nitric oxide was originally approved by the FDA in 1999 and since then there has been very little innovation in its delivery. Prior to VERO Biotech’s GENOSYL DS, nitric oxide gas was delivered via large, cumbersome pressurized gas cylinders that weigh ~75 pounds and are difficult to manage (potential NO2 exposure due to leakage, tank delivery, storage and disposal logistics, set-up and operating complexities, manual usage “clockage,” etc.). VERO Biotech’s proprietary delivery system eliminates the need for large tanks and the associated logistical burden. GENOSYL DS is a tankless and portable system engineered with redundant backup features, which delivers a constant concentration of inhaled nitric oxide gas to patients and the easy-to-use interface.
VERO Biotech’s system is also approved to administer inhaled nitric oxide during interhospital and intrahospital patient transport and in the magnetic resonance imaging suite, representing the broadest FDA approval in the industry for the Acute-care Setting including MRI, Ground, Fixed Wing and Rotary Transport.
“VERO’s form-factor, portability, and ease-of-use in the delivery and management of nitric oxide is a very disruptive technology,” said Rob Lake, Managing Director and Head of Life Sciences at Runway. “It will be difficult for hospitals that use nitric oxide to ignore the ‘economics of care’ benefits that GENOSYL DS provides – lowers costs of tank transport, storage, handling, service, disposal, and overall improved patient care.”
“After much due diligence, it was clear that Runway understands the nuances of our business,” said Brent V. Furse, CEO and President, VERO Biotech. “Working with a premier lender like Runway who gets us, and has a reputation for being a flexible and understanding partner, is integral to fueling our marketing and product development to ensure greater access to our proprietary tankless, cassette-based GENOSYL Delivery System.”
“We are thrilled to include VERO Biotech in Runway’s portfolio of innovative life sciences companies and support its effort to ensure that more patients will have access to what is a remarkable reimagining of how to care for patients who depend on nitric oxide,” said Lake.
About Runway Growth Capital LLC
Runway Growth Capital LLC is the investment advisor to investment funds, including Runway Growth Credit Fund Inc., which are lenders of growth capital to companies seeking an alternative to raising equity. Led by industry veteran David Spreng, these funds provide senior term loans of $10 million to $50 million to fast-growing companies based in the United States and Canada. For more information on Runway Growth Capital LLC and its platform, please visit our website at www.runwaygrowth.com.
Forward-Looking Statements
Statements included herein may constitute “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Statements other than statements of historical facts included in this press release may constitute forward-looking statements and are not guarantees of future performance, condition, or results and involve a number of risks and uncertainties, including the impact of COVID-19 and related changes in base interest rates and significant market volatility on our business, our portfolio companies, our industry, and the global economy. Actual results may differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements as a result of a number of factors, including those described from time to time in filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission made by funds that Runway manages. Runway undertakes no duty to update any forward-looking statement made herein. All forward-looking statements speak only as of the date of this press release.
About VERO Biotech LLC
VERO Biotech LLC (formerly known as GeNO LLC) is a biotechnology company focused on the design, development, and commercialization of next-generation products to address the unmet medical needs of patients with a variety of pulmonary and cardiac diseases.
VERO Biotech LLC is dedicated to improving the lives of patients by leading the development of innovative technologies for inhaled nitric oxide delivery in the acute care hospital setting and beyond, wherever inhaled nitric oxide treatment is needed.
Forward Looking Statements
This press release and any statements of representatives of VERO Biotech LLC related thereto that are not historical in nature contain, or may contain, among other things, certain “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements may include, without limitation, statements with respect to VERO Biotech’s plans, objectives, projections, expectations and intentions and other statements identified by words such as “projects,” “may,” “will,” “could,” “would,” “should,” “believes,” “expects,” “anticipates,” “estimates,” “seeks,” “intends,” “plans,” “potential” or similar expressions, including statements with respect to the potential effects of its products and plans to assess and undertake next steps for VERO Biotech LLC. These statements are based upon the current beliefs and expectations of VERO Biotech’s management and are subject to significant risks and uncertainties. Actual results may differ significantly from those set forth in the forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements involve certain risks and uncertainties that are subject to change based on various risk factors (many of which are beyond VERO Biotech’s control).