SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, Calif., June 5, 2008 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ — Exelixis, Inc. (Nasdaq: EXEL) announced today that the company has entered into an agreement with Deerfield Management, a leading healthcare investment organization and significant Exelixis stockholder, to provide Exelixis with up to $150.0 million in financing through a flexible credit facility. The funds can be drawn at any time over the next 18 months at Exelixis’ discretion. Exelixis is under no obligation to draw on the facility and can terminate the facility agreement without penalty at any time. Funds drawn will be repayable five years after signing of the facility agreement and can be repaid in shares of Exelixis common stock, subject to certain restrictions, or cash at any time during the term of the agreement.
“This transaction significantly increases our financial strength and flexibility over the next 18 months, even if we don’t draw on the facility,” said George A. Scangos, PhD, president and chief executive officer of Exelixis. “We expect that the next few months will provide key insights into our pipeline, the future of our existing collaborations, and potential new collaborations. The Deerfield facility gives us the time to see our way through this period of major pipeline and business milestones and puts us in a position of strength as we advance our various partnering discussions. We are in discussions for a number of transactions, and we want to make sure that we have the ability to work through our options, taking into account the outcome of some of the important milestones that we expect to reach later this year. Our objective is to maximize the long-term value from the development of our pipeline and by having the Deerfield facility in place, we have significantly enhanced our ability to do so.”
“The Exelixis discovery platform has been prolific, generating 14 targeted molecules currently in clinical development by either Exelixis or its partners,” said William Slattery, partner at Deerfield Management. “To complement its discovery capabilities, Exelixis has now built a top-tier development team that allows the company to independently optimize proof-of-concept studies for these products. Our goal with this financing is to provide a flexible, minimally dilutive form of capital that will allow Exelixis to advance development programs either internally or externally, depending on which strategy maximizes shareholder value.”