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Specialty pharmaceutical company Zogenix Inc., which is in registration for an initial public offering, has secured $18 million in debt funding.

Oxford Finance Corp. and CIT Healthcare LLC provided the loan facility. In March, Zogenix filed to raise up to $86.25 million through a public stock sale. The company has not yet set an amount of shares to be offered or an estimated price per share.

Zogenix has not generated any revenue since its founding in August 2006, according to a company filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The company had a net loss of $27.68 million for the year ending Dec. 2007, the filing said.

Zogenix plans to use the new debt funding for the launch of its first product, sumatriptan DosePro, a needle-free subcutaneous sumatriptan treatment for acute migraines and cluster headaches. The company plans to launch sumatriptan DosePro commercially in 2009, provided the company receives approval from the Food and Drug Administration. To prepare for that commercialization, Zogenix plans to complete its commercial manufacturing preparations, build its inventory and fill out its sales and marketing infrastructure.

"We remain on track and on schedule with the commercialization plans for sumatriptan DosePro," Zogenix Chief Executive Roger Hawley said in a prepared statement.

The debt funding is in addition to $18 million Zogenix added to its Series A round in January, bringing the round total to $78 million, after Zogenix raised $60 million toward the round in August 2006.

Zogenix's principal institutional shareholders, according to its latest Form S-1 filing with the SEC, include Domain Associates with a 23.2% stake in the company; Clarus Lifesciences, 23.1%; Scale Venture Partners, 15.4%; Thomas, McNerney & Partners, 13.2%; and Abingworth Bioventures, 10%. Life Science Angels is also an investor.

San Diego-based Zogenix focuses on developing treatments for central nervous system disorders and pain. The company's second product, ZX002, works as a controlled release formulation of hydrocone to treat chronic pain. That treatment is scheduled to enter Phase III trials in the second half of this year. Zogenix is also evaluating potential license opportunities for its drug delivery technology.

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