Beyond Air Announces Termination of the Loan and Security Agreements with Avenue Capital

Rhea-AI Summary

Beyond Air (NASDAQ: XAIR) has announced significant financial restructuring, terminating its loan agreements with Avenue Capital and entering a new $11.5 million loan agreement with an insider-led investor group. The company is retiring $17.5 million in Avenue Capital debt, eliminating $12 million in scheduled debt payments through June 2026. The new loan agreement defers payment of principal and interest until June 2026.

Notably, Beyond Air reports a 60% increase in hospital contracts since July 1, 2024, including a contract with U.S. Naval Hospital Guam. The company's CEO, Steve Lisi, emphasized that these transactions strengthen the balance sheet, extend cash runway, and support commercial momentum for LungFit PH. David Webster, Chief Commercial Officer, expressed confidence in LungFit PH's potential to gain significant market share in the United States and globally.

The company is withdrawing its previous revenue guidance for fiscal year 2025 but believes the financial restructuring will provide sufficient cash runway through June 2026.

Positive

• Retirement of $17.5 million in Avenue Capital debt
• New $11.5 million loan agreement with deferred payments until June 2026
• 60% increase in hospital contracts since July 1, 2024
• New contract with U.S. Naval Hospital Guam
• Extended cash runway through June 2026

Negative

• Withdrawal of previous revenue guidance for fiscal year 2025
• New loan carries a high 15% payment-in-kind interest rate

Insights

Financial Analyst

This news is significantly positive for Beyond Air. The company has successfully restructured its debt, which improves its financial position in several ways:

• Retiring $17.5 million in debt from Avenue Capital
• Eliminating $12 million in scheduled debt payments through June 2026
• Securing a new $11.5 million loan with deferred payments until June 2026

This restructuring provides Beyond Air with improved cash flow and extended runway. The 60% increase in hospital contracts since July 1, 2024, including the U.S. Naval Hospital Guam, indicates strong commercial momentum for their LungFit PH product. However, the withdrawal of FY2025 revenue guidance suggests some uncertainty in near-term financial projections. Overall, this debt restructuring and commercial progress should positively impact the company's financial stability and growth prospects.

Medical Device Industry Expert

Beyond Air's LungFit PH system is gaining traction in the medical device market, as evidenced by the 60% increase in hospital contracts. The product's unique attributes, such as using ambient air as a nitric oxide source, simplicity, portability and improved safety profile, position it well for market share growth. The contract with the U.S. Naval Hospital Guam is particularly noteworthy, as it opens doors to potential military and government contracts. The company's focus on harnessing nitric oxide for medical applications addresses a significant need in respiratory care. However, investors should note that the withdrawal of revenue guidance for fiscal year 2025 may indicate some uncertainty in the short-term commercialization trajectory.

– Retiring $17.5 million in Avenue Capital debt and entering into a $11.5 million loan agreement with an insider-led investor group –

– Eliminating $12 million in scheduled debt payments through June 2026 –

– $11.5 million loan agreement defers payment of principal and interest through June 2026 -

– 60% increase in the number of hospital contracts since July 1, 2024, including U.S. Naval Hospital Guam –

GARDEN CITY, N.Y., Sept. 27, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Beyond Air, Inc. (NASDAQ: XAIR) (“Beyond Air” or the “Company”), a commercial stage medical device and biopharmaceutical company focused on harnessing the power of endogenous and exogenous nitric oxide (NO) to improve the lives of patients, today announced that it has terminated the loan and security agreements with Avenue Capital and entered into an $11.5 million loan agreement with an insider-led investor group.

“These transactions, along with today’s announced equity raise, immediately strengthen our balance sheet, eliminate debt payments through mid-2026, extend our cash runway, and allow us to continue the momentum of our recent commercial efforts for LungFit PH. We are extremely pleased to add multiple institutional healthcare funds as investment partners who share our vision for the promising future potential for LungFit PH,” commented Steve Lisi, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Beyond Air. “The significant increase in hospital contracts since July 1^st, including our new partnership with the U.S. Naval Hospital Guam, is a testament to our commercial momentum.”

Retiring $17.5 Million Term Loan with Avenue Capital
Beyond Air and Avenue Capital have reached an agreement to extinguish the Avenue Capital senior secured term loan for a one-time payment of $17.85 million. This agreement eliminates the debt and interest payments that would have been made to Avenue Capital from October 1, 2024 through June 30, 2026 of $12.0 million. In addition, Avenue Capital is investing $3.35 million in Beyond Air through the private placement equity offering also announced today.

$11.5 Million Loan Agreement
The Company entered into a $11.5 million royalty funding agreement led by certain Beyond Air board members based on net sales of LungFit PH. This debt will carry a payment-in-kind (PIK) interest rate of 15% until July 2026. Payments for interest and principal will commence in July 2026 and be determined based on an 8% royalty rate on sales of LungFit PH. Payments will continue until principal and accrued interest are paid off.

Commercial Update
Since July 1, 2024, Beyond Air has increased the number of hospital contracts by 60%, including a contract with the U.S. Naval Hospital Guam, made possible through the Company’s collaboration with TrillaMed.

“Since early July 2024, when I joined Beyond Air, I have become more convinced that LungFit PH will take significant market share in the United States over the next few years. The groundwork being laid today will accelerate growth in the near term,” stated David Webster, Chief Commercial Officer of Beyond Air. “LungFit PH attributes, such as using ambient air as its source of NO, simplicity of use, portability, improved safety profile and environmental advantages, will not only drive market share growth in the United States, but globally as well.”

The Company believes the retirement of the Avenue debt the royalty based loan and concurrent equity financing will provide sufficient cash runway to support its operations through June 2026. The Company is withdrawing its previous revenue guidance for fiscal year 2025.

Roth Capital Partners and Ladenburg Thalmann & Co. acted as advisors to the debt transactions.

About Beyond Air^®, Inc.
Beyond Air is a commercial stage medical device and biopharmaceutical company dedicated to harnessing the power of endogenous and exogenous nitric oxide (NO) to improve the lives of patients suffering from respiratory illnesses, neurological disorders, and solid tumors. The Company has received FDA approval for its first system, LungFit^® PH, for the treatment of term and near-term neonates with hypoxic respiratory failure. Beyond Air is currently advancing its other revolutionary LungFit systems in clinical trials for the treatment of severe lung infections such as viral community-acquired pneumonia (including COVID-19), and nontuberculous mycobacteria (NTM) among others. Also, the Company has also partnered with The Hebrew University of Jerusalem to advance a pre-clinical program dedicated to the treatment of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and other neurological disorders. Additionally, Beyond Cancer, Ltd., an affiliate of Beyond Air, is investigating ultra-high concentrations of NO with a proprietary delivery system to target certain solid tumors in the pre-clinical setting. For more information, visit www.beyondair.net.

Forward Looking Statements
This press release contains “forward-looking statements” (as defined in Section 27A of the Securities Act and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended). You can identify such forward-looking statements by the words “appears,” “expects,” “plans,” “anticipates,” “believes” “expects,” “intends,” “looks,” “projects,” “goal,” “assumes,” “targets” and similar expressions and/or the use of future tense or conditional constructions (such as “will,” “may,” “could,” “should” and the like) and by the fact that these statements do not relate strictly to historical or current matters. Rather, forward-looking statements relate to anticipated or expected events, activities, trends or results as of the date they are made. Because forward-looking statements relate to matters that have not yet occurred, these statements are inherently subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from any future results expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are only predictions and reflect views as of the date they are made with respect to future events and financial performance. Many factors could cause actual activities or results to differ materially from the activities and results anticipated in forward-looking statements, including those related to the completion of the offering, risks related to the ability to raise additional capital; the timing and results of future pre-clinical studies and clinical trials; the potential that regulatory authorities, including the FDA and comparable non-U.S. regulatory authorities, may not grant or may delay approval for our product candidates; the approach to discover and develop novel drugs, which is unproven and may never lead to efficacious or marketable products; the ability to fund and the results of further pre-clinical studies and clinical trials of our product candidates; obtaining, maintaining and protecting intellectual property utilized by products; obtaining regulatory approval for products; competition from others using similar technology and others developing products for similar uses; dependence on collaborators; and other risks, which may, in part, be identified and described in the “Risk Factors” section of Beyond Air’s most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K and other of its filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, all of which are available on Beyond Air’s website. Beyond Air undertakes no obligation to update, and have no policy of updating or revising, these forward-looking statements, except as required by applicable law.

CONTACTS:
Investor Relations contacts
Corey Davis, Ph.D.
LifeSci Advisors, LLC
Cdavis@lifesciadvisors.com
(212) 915-2577

FAQ

What financial restructuring has Beyond Air (XAIR) announced?

Beyond Air has terminated its loan agreements with Avenue Capital, retiring $17.5 million in debt, and entered a new $11.5 million loan agreement with an insider-led investor group. This restructuring eliminates $12 million in scheduled debt payments through June 2026.

How has Beyond Air's (XAIR) hospital contract growth changed since July 1, 2024?

Beyond Air has reported a 60% increase in the number of hospital contracts since July 1, 2024, including a new contract with the U.S. Naval Hospital Guam.

What are the terms of Beyond Air's (XAIR) new $11.5 million loan agreement?

The new loan agreement defers payment of principal and interest until June 2026. It carries a 15% payment-in-kind interest rate until July 2026, after which payments will be based on an 8% royalty rate on LungFit PH sales.

Has Beyond Air (XAIR) changed its financial guidance for fiscal year 2025?

Yes, Beyond Air has withdrawn its previous revenue guidance for fiscal year 2025. However, the company believes its financial restructuring will provide sufficient cash runway through June 2026.