Exagen Diagnostics, Inc. and Capital Royalty Close Financing Transaction

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M., Nov. 4, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Exagen Diagnostics, Inc. and Capital Royalty Partners II, L.P. announced that they have closed a senior secured loan for up to $25 million of capital.  Exagen is a patient-focused, discovery-driven, CLIA-registered, CAP-accredited laboratory with a growing menu of proprietary, internally developed tests focused on rheumatology.  Exagen's lead test, SLE+, rules in-or-out Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (SLE) and provides results on 14 other connective tissue disease markers.  Exagen intends to use the proceeds to grow its U.S. sales force to 25 - 30 representatives, fueling already strong revenue growth in SLE+ as well as the company's pipeline of rheumatology tests.

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"Capital Royalty has shown to be the right partner for us and we are extremely excited to announce their strategic investment," said Ron Rocca, Exagen president and chief executive officer. "Exagen will benefit significantly from Capital Royalty's breadth of experience in the healthcare industry and deep knowledge of our business as we advance through our next stages of growth."

"We welcome the opportunity to provide customized debt financing structures for innovative life sciences companies like Exagen," said Luke Duster, principal at Capital Royalty. "The company has shown tremendous sales success with their lead product, Avise SLE+, and continues to have significant opportunities for future growth," he added.

Capital Royalty joins Exagen's equity investors Tullis Health Investors, Sun Mountain Capital, Cottonwood Capital Partners, EPIC Ventures and Mesa Verde Venture Partners.

About Exagen Diagnostics, Inc.
Exagen sells a portfolio of five proprietary brands, all of which serve unmet needs in rheumatology. Exagen's lead product, Avise SLE+, enables SLE diagnostic testing with balanced sensitivity and strong specificity and is combined with several additional Connective Tissue Disease (CTD) markers.  Avise SLE+ is well on its way to becoming the new standard of care for CTD diagnosis. Exagen is led by Ron Rocca, President and CEO and is headquartered in Albuquerque, New Mexico. For more information please visit www.exagen.com.

About Capital Royalty L.P.
Capital Royalty L.P. is a market pioneer and innovator in healthcare investing focused on intellectual property investments in approved products through structures including royalty bonds, secured debt, revenue interests and traditional royalty monetizations. Capital Royalty works directly with leading healthcare companies, research institutions and inventors to provide customized solutions to meet their unique financing needs. The value of each investment is based on the future revenue of commercialized biopharmaceutical products and medical technologies. Capital Royalty is actively making investments through Capital Royalty Fund II, which has $805 million in committed capital. The firm is headquartered in Houston, with offices in Boulder, Colo. and New York. For additional information, please visit www.capitalroyalty.com.

SOURCE Exagen Diagnostics, Inc.