– Groundbreaking Platform Poised to Disrupt Multiple Consumer Health and Therapeutic Markets
– entrinsic bioscience, Working with Aon, Leverages its IP Portfolio to Secure Insurancebacked Financing from Jefferies Funding LLC with Limited Equity Dilution
entrinsic bioscience (EBS)announced that it has secured $49 million in non-dilutive growth capital from Jefferies Group LLC’s subsidiary, Jefferies Funding LLC (Jefferies). The event follows Series A and B raises, including multiple rounds of investment from Johnson & Johnson INNOVATION | JJDC. Aon Plc’s Intellectual Property Solutions also played an important role in helping to secure key Collateral Protection Insurance to support the financing.
“Our platform represents a new modality for creating functional ingredients and active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) that are highly efficacious, safe, and cost effective,” said EBS CEO Stephen Gatto. EBS is pioneering an innovative approach to protein and ion channel modulation that originated from a $40 million NASA|BARDA grant. “This financing greatly accelerates the numerous commercialization efforts already underway with leading OTC, CPG, and therapeutic companies.”
Jefferies acted as sole lender to EBS. Aon Plc, using its proprietary intellectual property (IP) valuation platform to value EBS’ IP portfolio, arranged for an IP Collateral Insurance policy for Jefferies, collateralized by EBS’ IP portfolio. Insurers involved include Allianz, Aspen, and Markel.
CFO Mario Wanderley summarized the transaction: “We are very proud to have a firm of Jefferies’ caliber backing us. Our insurance policy-backed deal was made possible by the significant value and broad applications of our intellectual property portfolio, which was subject to great scrutiny and due diligence by our financing partners who concluded that the facility amount represents a fraction of the value of our IP.”
Immediate applications include programs for GI, Airway Diseases and Skin. “Our platform has proven to translate from discovery through demonstrated human efficacy, and fundamentally disrupts the perceived limits of functional ingredients and API innovation to protect, maintain, and restore health and wellness. It is a blueprint for serial innovation,” commented Gatto.
“Through our innovative valuation platform and Collateral Protection Insurance, Aon is helping to provide innovative growth companies, like EBS, with a path to non-dilutive growth capital that preserves the ownership and value for their founders and early investors,” said Lewis Lee, CEO, Aon’s IP solutions. “It was a pleasure to assist the teams at EBS and Jefferies in connection with their insurance-backed financing, which unlocks the value in EBS’ IP.”
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