Achieve Life Sciences Announces Refinancing of Outstanding Loan with Silicon Valley Bank

Refinanced Loan Extends Maturity to December 2024

SEATTLE and VANCOUVER, British Columbia, May 17, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Achieve Life Sciences, Inc. (Nasdaq: ACHV), a late-stage pharmaceutical company committed to the global development and commercialization of cytisinicline for smoking cessation and nicotine dependence, today announced the Company has refinanced its previous debt agreement with Silicon Valley Bank (SVB), a division of First-Citizens Bank. The Company and SVB have entered into a new contingent convertible debt agreement which refinanced the outstanding loan and accrued interest balance of $16.6 million from its previous debt agreement entered into on December 22, 2021. The Company’s obligations under the prior agreement were satisfied in full and the prior agreement was terminated in connection with the new contingent convertible debt agreement.

Under the terms of the new agreement, the outstanding loan matures on December 22, 2024, which is an extension of 12 months from the maturity on the extinguished loan. Outside of the maturity date extension, the new agreement did not change the provisions surrounding interest rate, economic terms of conversion rights and price, or repayment provisions.

Additional terms of the agreement can be found within the Company’s Form 8-K filing issued on May 17, 2023.

About Achieve and Cytisinicline 

Achieve’s focus is to address the global smoking health and nicotine addiction epidemic through the development and commercialization of cytisinicline. Tobacco use is currently the leading cause of preventable death that is responsible for more than eight million deaths worldwide and nearly half a million deaths in the United States annually.^1,2 More than 87% of lung cancer deaths, 61% of all pulmonary disease deaths, and 32% of all deaths from coronary heart disease are attributable to smoking and exposure to secondhand smoke.² 

In addition, there are over 11 million adults in the United States who use e-cigarettes, also known as vaping.³ In 2022, approximately 2.5 million middle and high school students in the United States reported using e-cigarettes.⁴ Currently, there are no FDA-approved treatments indicated specifically as an aid to nicotine e-cigarette cessation.  

Cytisinicline is a plant-based alkaloid with a high binding affinity to the nicotinic acetylcholine receptor. It is believed to aid in treating nicotine addiction for smoking and e-cigarette cessation by interacting with nicotine receptors in the brain, reducing the severity of withdrawal symptoms, and reducing the reward and satisfaction associated with nicotine products. Cytisinicline is an investigational product candidate being developed for the treatment of nicotine addiction and has not been approved by the Food and Drug Administration for any indication in the United States.