Long-term debt

9 Months Ended

Sep. 30, 2020

Long-term debt

Long-term debt

11. Long-term debt

On March 21, 2017, the Company entered into a term loan facility of up to $25.0 million with Hercules Capital, Inc. (Hercules). The term loan facility is governed by a loan and security agreement, dated March 21, 2017 (the Original Loan Agreement).  The Original Loan Agreement was amended on January 4, 2018, March 6, 2018, October 11, 2018, April 23, 2019, and November 14, 2019 (the Amended Loan Agreement) to increase the total borrowing limit under the Original Loan Agreement from up to $25.0 million to up to $75.0 million, pursuant to certain conditions of funding.

Per the terms of the Amended Loan Agreement, the Company may borrow up to an aggregate of $75.0 million, of which $35.0 million was outstanding immediately as of April 23, 2019 (Fourth Amendment Date) (Amended Term A Loan) as a result of the existing outstanding principal of term loans of $25.0 million being converted into the Amended Term A Loan, and an additional $10.0 million being drawn on the Fourth Amendment Date. The remaining $40.0 million of borrowing capacity may be drawn in multiple tranches comprised of (i) a term loan in an amount of up to $15.0 million upon the Company generating cumulative net product revenues (as defined in the Amended Loan Agreement) of either (a) $37.5 million on or before April 30, 2020 or (b) $50.0 million on or before June 30, 2020 (Amended Term B Loan), and (ii) a term loan in an amount of up to $25.0 million available through December 31, 2021, subject to Hercules’ approval and certain other conditions specified in the Amended Loan Agreement (the Amended Term C Loan, and together with the Amended Term A Loan and Amended Term B Loan, the Amended Term Loan). The funding conditions for the Amended Term B Loan have not been met and expired on June 30, 2020. As of September 30, 2020, the Company has borrowed a total of $35.0 million in term loans.

The Company must maintain unrestricted and unencumbered cash in accounts subject to control agreements in favor of Hercules of an aggregate amount greater than or equal to 100% of the outstanding debt obligations under the Amended Term Loan Agreement, unless and until the Company receives of Net Product Revenues (as defined in the Amended Loan Agreement) of at least $20 million on or before December 31, 2020, measured on a trailing six month basis (Initial Net Product Revenue Threshold). As of September 30, 2020, the Company has not met the Initial Net Product Revenue Threshold. Due to the Secura sale discussed below in Note 16. License and collaboration agreements, the Company can no longer meet the Initial Net Product Revenue Threshold. The Company has recorded a total $35.0 million in current restricted cash and non-current restricted cash on the condensed consolidated balance sheets. As the Initial Net Product Revenue Threshold is not possible of achievement, the Company must, on a monthly basis, either (a) maintain at all times during such month unrestricted and unencumbered cash in accounts subject to control agreements in favor of Hercules, in an aggregate amount greater than or equal to 50% of the outstanding debt obligations under the Amended Loan Agreement, or (b) show net product revenues of at least 80% of the amounts shown on the Company’s most recent board approved financial and business projections, measured on a trailing six month basis as of the end of such calendar month,

The Amended Term Loan will mature on December 1, 2022 (Amended Term Loan Maturity Date). Each advance accrues interest at a floating per annum rate equal to the greater of (a) 9.75% or (b) the lesser of (i) 12.00% and (ii) the sum of (x) 9.75% plus (y) (A) the prime rate (as defined in the Amended Loan Agreement) minus (B) 5.50%. The Amended Term Loan provides for interest-only payments until April 1, 2021, which may be extended to December 1, 2021 subject to the Company generating $40.0 million in net product revenue on a trailing six-month basis on or prior to December 31, 2020 provided that no event of default has occurred.  Thereafter, amortization payments will be payable monthly in equal installments of principal and interest (subject to recalculation upon a change in prime rates).

The Amended Term Loan is secured by a lien on substantially all of the Company’s assets, other than intellectual property and contains customary covenants and representations, including a liquidity covenant, minimum net revenue covenant, financial reporting covenant and limitations on dividends, indebtedness, collateral, investments, distributions, transfers, mergers or acquisitions, taxes, corporate changes, deposit accounts, and subsidiaries.

On the Fourth Amendment Date, the Company was required to pay any outstanding accrued interest as well as the final payment fee equal to 4.5% on the outstanding principal balance, or $1.1 million.  No prepayment charges were due as a result of executing the Fourth Amendment or conversion of the existing term loans into Amended Term A Loans.

The events of default under the Amended Loan Agreement include, without limitation, and subject to customary grace periods, (i) any failure by us to make any payments of principal or interest under the Amended Loan Agreement, any promissory notes or any other loan documents, (ii) any breach or default in the performance of any covenant under the Amended Loan Agreement, (iii) any making of false or misleading representations or warranties in any material respect, (iv) the Company’s insolvency or bankruptcy, (v) certain attachments or judgments on the assets of Verastem, Inc., or (vi) the occurrence of any material default under certain agreements or obligations of ours involving indebtedness, or (vii) the occurrence of a material adverse effect. If an event of default occurs, Hercules is entitled to take enforcement action, including acceleration of amounts due under the Amended Loan Agreement.

The Amended Loan Agreement also contains other customary provisions, such as expense reimbursement and confidentiality. Hercules has indemnification rights and the right to assign the Amended Term Loan.

The Company assessed all terms and features of the Amended Loan Agreement in order to identify any potential embedded features that would require bifurcation or any beneficial conversion features. As part of this analysis, the Company assessed the economic characteristics and risks of the Amended Loan Agreement, including put and call features. The Company determined that all features of the Amended Loan Agreement were clearly and closely associated with a debt host and did not require bifurcation as a derivative liability, or the fair value of the feature was immaterial to the Company's condensed consolidated financial statements. The Company reassesses the features on a quarterly basis to determine if they require separate accounting. There have been no changes to the Company’s original assessment through September 30, 2020.

The future principal payments under the Amended Term Loan are as follows as of September 30, 2020 (in thousands):

2021	$	14,234
2022		20,766
Total principal payments	$	35,000