Gastrointestinal treatments company Tranzyme Pharma (NASDAQ:TZYM) has secured $9.3 million in financing — enough to carry the company through the third quarter.
Durham, North Carolina-based Tranzyme said that the loan came from an amendment and restatement of its existing debt financing facility with Oxford Finance and Horizon Technology Finance Corporation (NASDAQ:HRZN). Tranzyme will use a portion of the proceeds to pay off a portion of its existing debt, leaving the company with $20 million in outstanding debt. Terms of the amended notes provide that Tranzyme pay interest only through February 2013.
Tranzyme, which completed an initial public stock offering last April, does not yet have any U.S. Food and Administration-approved drugs. The companies lead drug candidate is ulimorelin, a compound in phase 3 clinical trials for treatment of postoperative ilius, a condition in which the GI tract stops functioning normally following intestinal surgery. Another compound, TZP-102, is being studied as a treatment for diabetic gastroparesis, an upper gastrointestinal disorder. That compound is in phase 2b clinical trials.
Tranzyme CEO Vipin Garg said in a statement that the company expects to file a new drug application for ulimorelin in the fourth quarter. Top-line phase 2b data for TZP-102 is expected by the end of the year.
Photo from flickr user stopnlook
