SHINE Medical Technologies, Inc.
(SHINE) announced today that it executed a term sheet providing for up to $125
million of debt and equity financing with Deerfield Management Company, L.P.
(Deerfield), a New York headquartered healthcare investment firm. SHINE plans
to build a new manufacturing plant in Wisconsin to produce more than a quarter
of world supply of the most commonly-used isotope in nuclear medicine,
molybdenum-99 (moly-99).
Under the
terms of the financing, Deerfield would provide SHINE the debt financing in
milestone-driven phases. In addition, a portion of Deerfield’s commitment would
include participation in the concurrent equity financing. The funds, plus funds
from the Department of Energy‘s National Nuclear Security Administration, which
provides SHINE matching funding currently up to a total of $25 million, would
then be used to complete the design and construction of SHINE’s manufacturing
plant, and cover ramp-up costs as the company increases operating staff prior
to commencing commercial production.
The U.S.
currently does not have domestic moly-99 production capability and must import
100 percent of its supply from foreign producers, most of which use
weapons-grade uranium in their production processes. The majority of existing
foreign supply will disappear in coming years as older reactors go offline and
governments cease supplying highly enriched uranium for such purposes. SHINE’s
moly-99 production technology provides a green, cost-effective, and
market-compatible product that eliminates the need for weapons-grade uranium.
“The momentum we’ve gained in just the past year demonstrates that SHINE is
positioned to become North America’s preeminent supplier of medical isotopes,”
said Greg Piefer, CEO of SHINE. “This is an important step toward complete
financing of our North American plant. Deerfield’s reputation in the healthcare
industry is unparalleled and I’m thrilled they share SHINE’s vision for a
reliable, domestic supply of medical isotopes. We could not have found a better
partner to move SHINE forward.”
“We are pleased to help advance and catalyze a solution to the looming US
moly-99 supply shortage through our commitment to SHINE. We are encouraged with
the progress that the SHINE team has made to date on its novel approach to produce
moly-99 from low-enriched uranium.” said Steve Hochberg, Partner at Deerfield.
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