Belgian women's health company Mithra has secured a bridging loan of €2.5 million – a lifeline that will allow the pharma firm to last until early June.
In a statement on Wednesday, the company, headquartered in Liège, confirmed that lenders have agreed to provide an additional €2.5 million in bridge financing for the company, on top of €18.5 million already provided to support an ongoing monetisation process.
Mithra, which produces women's health products with a particular focus on contraception and menopause, announced in March of this year that it was beginning a monetisation process to sell certain assets and perhaps the entire business.
The company has been in financial difficulty for some time as it is struggling with debts and a lack of liquidity, with warning signals as early as last summer that the business was in danger of going bankrupt.
In 2023, Mithra reported revenues of €40.2 million – down 40% on the €67 million generated the year before. Between 2022 and 2023, the company's annual net loss grew from €59.6 million to €173.5 million.
Monetisation process
In March, Mithra initiated the process of selling assets or the entire business to bring in cash. It secured a bridge loan of €13.5 million and an uncommitted facility of a further €5 million, which the company said would cover operational costs until the end of April.
A day later, the Belgian company's CEO David Horn Solomon was fired and replaced with co-CEO's Christophe Maréchal (previously the company's chief financial officer) and Xavier Paoli (previously Mithra's chief operating officer). The company said a "change in Mithra's management was needed" in the context of the ongoing monetisation process.
Mithra announced on Wednesday that the €2.5 million cash injection will keep the company afloat until early June, giving it time to finalise ongoing negotiations. Mithra is in talks with Hungarian pharma company Gedeon Richter to sell its assets related to hormone estetrol (namely Estetra SRL, Neuralis and parts of Mithra R&D).
Mithra said that the current aggregate offer for the sale of its assets, including Gedeon Richter's offer and others, is still not enough to fully repay its creditors and so does not create value for shareholders. The company said it remains "dedicated to negotiating with all prospective buyers to maximize value, acting in the best interest of all stakeholders".
Trading of the company's stocks on Euronext Brussels has also been suspended pending the on-going negotiations.
