aibioCandel signs Trinity Capital term loan of up to $130.0 million, draws $50.0 million
Tickers CADL
Candel signed a five-year term loan with Trinity Capital Inc. for up to $130 million and drew $50 million at closing. The loan carries a 10.25% initial rate, a 4.25% exit fee and a minimum cash covenant that applies if the company's market value falls below $550 million.
Key facts
- Company
- Candel Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ: CADL)
- News type
- Debt Financing
- Primary source
- Candel Therapeutics, Inc. Form 8-K filed October 14, 2025 (SEC EDGAR)
Candel Therapeutics, Inc. (Nasdaq: CADL) entered into a loan and security agreement on October 14, 2025 with lenders it names only as "the lenders from time to time party hereto", and Trinity Capital Inc. as administrative and collateral agent. The Form 8-K filed the same day says the facility has four tranches and that the company drew the first, $50 million, at closing.
What the loan costs
Interest accrues at the greater of the Wall Street Journal Prime Rate plus 3.0% and 9.75%. The initial rate is 10.25%. The company pays a commitment fee of 1.0% of each draw, and a 4.25% exit fee on amounts drawn, due at maturity or early termination. Payments are interest-only for 36 months, and the company can extend that period by twelve months if it reaches a commercial milestone by June 30, 2028. All tranches mature on October 1, 2030.
Voluntary prepayment carries a premium of 3.0% in the first year, 2.0% in the second and 1.0% after that. A merger, an asset sale or an acquirer reaching 35% of the stock requires prepayment.
Tranches and conditions
The first tranche of $50 million was drawn on October 14, 2025. The second, $20.0 million, is open until May 30, 2027 if regulatory, clinical and operational milestones are met by March 31, 2027. The third, $30.0 million, follows the second, is open until February 28, 2028 and depends on regulatory and operational milestones by December 31, 2027. The fourth, also $30.0 million, comes only at the lenders' sole discretion after the third is funded. So $80 million of the $130 million rests on milestones or lender choice. The loan is secured by a first priority security interest in substantially all company assets. The company says the first tranche will refinance its existing loan with First-Citizens Bank & Trust Company, which succeeded Silicon Valley Bank under a loan agreement dated February 24, 2022.
The covenants are the tighter terms. If the company's market capitalization is below $550 million, it must keep minimum cash and cash equivalents, less certain payables, at 67.5% of the outstanding loan obligations from July 1, 2026, until it has raised at least $95 million in unrestricted net cash from equity financings or upfront business development proceeds. From the earlier of October 1, 2027 or written notice of certain regulatory outcomes, until certain regulatory approvals are obtained, the floor rises to 75% of outstanding principal. Delisting from the Nasdaq Global Market is an event of default.
Lender warrants and an existing warrant amendment
Each drawdown requires the company to issue lender warrants equal to 3.0% of the drawn amount, divided by an exercise price of $5.89 per share, with a ten-year term and cashless exercise. For the first tranche, the company issued a lender warrant for up to 254,642 shares.
The same day, Candel signed an omnibus amendment with holders of existing warrants. Those holders include affiliates of Paul Manning and Chris Martell, both directors of the company. The warrants cover up to 3,672,484 shares at $6.81 per share in conditional form, and another 3,672,484 shares at the same price in unconditional form. The amendment extends their expiration to September 30, 2027. The holders also released the company and its directors, officers and affiliates from claims tied to the 2018 Series B preferred stock purchase agreement with PBM ADV Holdings, LLC, and agreed to a six-month lock-up.
The money and the pipeline
Candel said cash and cash equivalents were $87.2 million as of September 30, 2025, and that the financing "significantly strengthens our balance sheet". The press release calls the capital "non-dilutive", but the lender warrants and the amended warrants are potential share issuances.
The company says part of the loan will fund starting a pivotal Phase 3 trial of CAN-2409 in non-small cell lung cancer, and that it expects to submit a Biologics License Application for CAN-2409 in early localized prostate cancer in the fourth quarter of 2026. The company will seek external funding for CAN-2409 in pancreatic cancer, although it describes "compelling phase 2a data" there.
Jefferies LLC was the company's exclusive financial adviser, according to the press release. The 8-K names no counsel.