Looking to strengthen its financial position, Seattle's ZymoGenetics said Monday it had reached a deal that will allow it to borrow up to $100 million over the next year-and-a-half.

During a conference call to announce the agreement, ZymoGenetics President Doug Williams said it was possible that the financing, when coupled with several other initiatives the company is working on, would provide enough cash to fund the company until it becomes profitable.

In January, ZymoGenetics launched its first product, Recothrom, a synthetic protein to stop bleeding during surgery, and analysts expect it will generate between $18 million and $23 million in sales this year. Those numbers are below initial estimates but analysts say sales will rise as the product establishes itself in the market.

ZymoGenetics said in February that it was looking to raise money to help pay for the build-up of Recothrom inventory.

But the company has said there was no "imminent need to raise additional capital" and that it had enough cash to "see us into 2009."

Under the terms of the financing deal, ZymoGenetics can borrow $25 million at a time from healthcare investment fund Deerfield Management. Each time ZymoGenetics borrows $25 million, the company will agree to give Deerfield Management a royalty equal to 2 percent of Recothrom sales until all the borrowed money is paid back. In addition, ZymoGenetics will grant Deerfield warrants to purchase its stock.

During the conference call, ZymoGenetics Chief Financial Officer Jim Johnson said it was too early to tell how much of the $100 million the company would use.

"We don't know at this point how much of the $100 million we will actually end up taking," he said, adding that it depends on Recothrom sales, as well as "business development and licensing transactions" the company has in the works.

"I fully expect probably in the range of, probably a $25 million draw between now and the end of this year, but beyond that it's difficult to predict. And actually that points out one of the reasons why we really like the structure of this deal, because it gives us that flexibility and we only need to pay for what we actually end up needing."

But Kevin DeGeeter, an analyst at Oppenheimer & Co., who has been consistently bearish on Recothrom's prospects, said in a research report that the company would probably need more than $100 million.

"With Recothrom sales continuing to track below our estimates we, believe (an) additional equity raise in next 12-mos will be required for profitability," he said.

Read a press release here.