v3.8.0.1
Note 7 - Long-term Debt
12 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2017
Notes to Financial Statements  
Long-term Debt [Text Block]
7.
Long-Term Debt
 
 
Amended
Loan and Security Agreement
 
On
December
 
16,
2013,
AcelRx entered into an Amended and Restated Loan and Security Agreement with Hercules Technology II, L.P. and Hercules Capital, Inc., formerly known as Hercules Technology Growth Capital, Inc., together, the Lenders, or the Original Loan Agreement, under which the Company was provided the ability to borrow up to
$40.0
million in
three
tranches. The loans were represented by secured convertible term promissory notes, collectively, the
2013
Notes. The Original Loan Agreement amended and restated the prior Loan and Security Agreement between the Company and the Lenders dated as of
June 
29,
2011.
The Company borrowed the
first
tranche of
$15.0
million upon closing of the transaction on
December 
16,
2013,
and the
second
tranche of
$10.0
million on
June 16, 2014
. The Company used approximately
$8.6
million of the proceeds from the
first
tranche to repay its obligations under the prior Loan and Security Agreement with the Lenders. The Company recorded the new debt at an estimated fair value of
$24.9
million as of
December 31, 2014.
In connection with the Original Loan Agreement, the Company issued a warrant to each Lender which, collectively, are exercisable for an aggregate of
176,730
shares of common stock and each carried an exercise price of
$6.79
per share.
 
On
September
 
24,
2014,
the Company entered into Amendment
No.
1
to the Original Loan Agreement with the Lenders. Amendment
No.
1
extended the time period under which the Company could draw down the
third
tranche, of up to
$15.0
million, from
March 
15,
2015
to
August 
1,
2015,
subject to the Company obtaining approval for ZALVISO from the FDA. The Company did
not
receive FDA approval of ZALVISO by
August 1, 2015
and as such, did
not
have access to the
third
tranche.
 
On
September 18, 2015,
concurrently with the closing of the Royalty Monetization, the Company entered into a Consent and Amendment
No.
2,
or Amendment
No.
2,
to the Original Loan Agreement with the
Lenders. Amendment
No.
2
includes an interest only period from
October 1, 2015
through
March 31, 2016,
with further extension to
September 30, 2016
upon satisfaction of certain conditions. These conditions were satisfied in the
third
quarter of
2015
and the interest only period was extended through
September 30, 2016.
Loans under the Original Loan Agreement were scheduled to mature on
October 1, 2017.
In connection with Amendment
No.
2,
the Company reduced the exercise price of the warrants already held by the Lenders, which are exercisable for an aggregate of
176,730
shares of Common Stock, from the previous exercise price of
$6.79
per share to
$3.88
per share.
 
On
September 30, 2016,
the Company entered into Amendment
No.
3
to the Original Loan Agreement w
ith the Lenders. Among other things, Amendment
No.
3
extended the interest-only period from
October 1, 2016
to
April 1, 2017.
In connection with Amendment
No.
3,
the Company reduced the exercise price of the existing warrants held by the Lenders, which are exercisable for an aggregate of
176,730
shares of common stock, from the previous exercise price of
$3.88
per share to
$3.07
per share.
 
On
March 2, 2017,
the Company amended and restated the Original Loan Agreement with the Lenders, which is referred to as the Amended Loan Agreement. Pursuant to the Amended Loan Agreement,
the Company borrowed the
first
tranche of approximately
$20.5
million upon closing of the transaction on
March 2, 2017,
which is represented by secured term promissory notes, or the Notes. The Company used all of the proceeds from the
first
tranche to repay its obligations under the Original Loan Agreement, including a final payment of
$1.7
million made on
October 1, 2017.
The interest rate is calculated at a rate equal to the greater of either (i)
9.55%
plus the prime rate as reported from time to time in The Wall Street Journal minus
3.50%,
and (ii)
9.55%.
Payments under the Amended Loan Agreement were interest-only until
October 1, 2017
followed by equal monthly payments of principal and interest through the scheduled maturity date of
March 1, 2020.
A final payment equal to
6.5%
of the aggregate principal amount of loans funded under the Amended Loan Agreement, or End of Term Fee, or EOT Fee, will be due on the earliest of (i) the maturity date, (ii) prepayment in full of the loans (other than by a refinancing with Hercules) or (iii) the date on which the loans under the Amended Loan Agreement become due and payable. The Company’s obligations under the Amended Loan Agreement are secured by a security interest in substantially all of its assets, other than its intellectual property.
 
If the Company prepays the loans under the Amended Loan Agreement prior to the maturity date, it will pay Hercules a prepayment charge, based on a percentage of the then outstanding principal balance, equal to
3%
if the prepayment occurs prior to
March 2, 2018,
2%
if the prepayment occurs after
March 2, 2018,
but prior to
March 2, 2019,
or
1%
if the prepayment occurs after
March 2, 2019.
 
The Amended Loan Agreement includes customary affirmative and restrictive covenants, but does
not
include any financial maintenance covenants, and also includes standard events of default, including payment defaults, breaches of covenants following any applicable cure period, a material impairment in the perfection or priority of Hercules
’ security interest or in the value of the collateral, and events relating to bankruptcy or insolvency. Upon the occurrence of an event of default, a default interest rate of an additional
5%
may
be applied to the outstanding loan balances, and Hercules
may
declare all outstanding obligations immediately due and payable and take such other actions as set forth in the Amended Loan Agreement.
 
Upon an event of default, including a change of control,
Hercules has the option to accelerate repayment of the Amended Loan Agreement, including payment of any applicable prepayment charges. This option is considered a contingent put option liability, as the holder of the loan has the ability to exercise the option in the event of default, and is considered an embedded derivative, which must be valued and separately accounted for in the Company’s financial statements. As the Original Loan Agreement entered into on
December 16, 2013
was considered an extinguishment, the contingent put option liability associated with the prior Loan and Security Agreement, which had an estimated fair value of
$32
at the time of the amendment, was written off as a part of the loss on extinguishment, and a new contingent put option liability was established. As of
December 31, 2017
and
2016,
the estimated fair value of the contingent put option liability was
$0.2
million and
$0.1
million, respectively, which was determined by using a risk-neutral valuation model, wherein the fair value of the underlying debt facility is estimated both with and without the presence of the default provisions, holding all other assumptions constant. The resulting difference between the
two
estimated fair values is the estimated fair value of the default provisions, or the contingent put option. The fair value of the underlying debt facility is estimated by calculating the expected cash flows in consideration of an estimated probability of default and expected recovery rate in default, and discounting such cash flows back to the reporting date using a risk-free rate. The contingent put option liability is revalued at the end of each reporting period and any change in the fair value is recognized in interest income and
other income (expense), net in the Consolidated Statements of Comprehensive Loss.
 
The Company
performed an analysis of Amendments
No.
2
and
No.
3
to determine if each amendment was a modification or extinguishment of the debt under the Original Loan Agreement. The Company assumed immediate prepayment of both the pre-modification debt and post-modification debt, including the change in the fair value due to the warrant amendments, and concluded that Amendments
No.
2
and
No.
3
were each modifications rather than extinguishments of the debt.
 
The accrued balance due under the
Amended Loan Agreement was
$19.1
million at
December 31, 2017
and was
$21.5
million under the Original Loan Agreement at
December 31, 2016.
Interest expense related to the Amended Loan Agreement was
$3.3
million for the year ended
December 31, 2017
and was
$2.8
million and
$3.0
million under the Original Loan Agreement for the years ended
December 31, 2016
and
2015,
respectively.
 
Future Payments on Long-Term Debt
 
The following table summarizes our outstanding future payments associated with the Company
’s long-term debt as of
December 
31,
2017
(in thousands):
 
20
18
  $
9,350
 
2019
   
9,350
 
20
20
   
3,704
 
Total payments
   
22,404
 
Less amount representing interest
   
(2,420
)
Notes payable, gross
   
19,984
 
Unamortized portion of final payment
   
(741
)
Unamortized discount on notes payable
   
(147
)
Long-term debt    
19,096
 
Less current portion of notes payable, including unamortized discount
   
(7,727
)
Long-term debt,
current portion
  $
11,369