L.O.T.W. #114 - Maze Therapeutics - finding its way to repayment flexibility
Revolving line w/ term conversion provided by Pacific Western Bank
Maze Therapeutics’ $50 million revolving loan from Pacific Western Bank is a great example of a credit structure designed to bolster recently raised equity proceeds and provide additional financial flexibility. The deal is unique in that it includes a low upfront commitment fee and does not require an initial draw at close—features that reduce near-term carrying costs and give the company greater control over how and when it accesses capital. In addition, the facility includes a novel feature allowing Maze to term out outstanding revolver balances at its discretion upon achieving a pre-defined milestone, effectively converting short-term liquidity into longer-term capital. While these terms are borrower-friendly, the agreement does include a minimum cash covenant set at 50% of the credit extension, which limits the net debt Maze can deploy toward its operating and strategic objectives.
👓At a Glance
Borrower: Maze Therapeutics, Inc.
Lender: Pacific Western Bank (now Banc of California)
Deal Size: $50.0 million
Structure: Senior secured revolving line of credit with option to convert principal balance to an 18 month amortizing term loan contingent on Borrower achieving a funding milestone
Rate: Variable - greater of Prime + 0.75% or 4.50%
Term: 52 months
Use of Proceeds: Bolster balance sheet liquidity post Series C equity funding
Source: Link to S-1
📷Borrower Snapshot
Sector: Health Care
Subsector: Pharmaceuticals
Ownership: Public (MAZE); Private at the time of loan origination
Commercial Stage: Pre-revenue
Business Overview: . Maze Therapeutics is a biotechnology company focused on translating genetic insights into precision medicines for patients with serious diseases. By leveraging its proprietary Compass platform, Maze identifies genetic modifiers that influence disease pathways to develop novel therapeutics.
Borrower’s drug pipeline is led by MZE829, an oral APOL1 inhibitor in Phase 2 trials for APOL1-mediated kidney disease (AKD), including focal segmental glomerulosclerosis (FSGS), designed to mimic the protective N264K variant and showing strong disease-modifying potential in preclinical models. Its second program, MZE782, targets the solute transporter SLC6A19 and is in Phase 1 trials for chronic kidney disease (CKD), with plans to also evaluate it for phenylketonuria (PKU).
⚙️Structure & Terms
Source: Link to S-1
Commitment: $50.0 million revolving line of credit
Availability: $50 million available at close
Funding Milestone: Borrower raises $150 million from sale of equity securities and/or upfront nonrefundable payments from strategic partnerships
Conversion into Term Loan: If the Borrower achieves the Funding Milestone, it may elect to convert any outstanding revolving loan balance into an 18-month, fully amortizing term loan beginning on June 27, 2025
Maturity: November 27, 2026
Rate: Variable - greater of Prime + 0.75% or 4.50%
Commitment Fee: .05% ($25k)
Success Fee: Upon Success Fee Event, Borrower shall pay a fee equal to greater of 4% of aggregate advances, or 1% of the revolving line commitment
Success Fee Event: Sale, corporate transaction that results in change of control, or IPO
Covenants: Min. cash equal to or greater than 50% of the aggregate amount of credit extensions (advances, letters of credit, or other extension of credit)