Cancer drugmaker Clovis files for bankruptcy, hit by falling sales

The US drugmaker Clovis Oncology recently filed for bankruptcy protection in Delaware, hit by a fall in sales of its cancer drug and challenges in raising additional capital.

Clovis has been struggling to sell its cancer drug Rubraca, the company’s only approved drug, as sales were hit in recent years by intensifying competition from rival ovarian cancer treatments, and partly due to declining diagnoses during the pandemic lockdowns.

The company has also lined up a Debtor-In-Possession (DIP) financing facility of up to $75 million to provide it with necessary liquidity, subject to court approval, Clovis said in a press release yesterday.

Colorado-based Clovis said it has entered into a stalking horse agreement with Novartis Innovative Therapies AG to sell the license rights to its pipeline clinical candidate FAP-2286 for an upfront payment of $50 million and up to an additional $333.75 million after achieving some development and regulatory milestones. Clovis will also receive $297 million later, when it hits certain sales milestones.

Clovis is also actively engaged in discussions with a number of interested parties regarding a potential sale of one or more of its other assets.

In a filing at the US Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware, Clovis estimated its assets to be in the range of $100 million to $500 million, with liabilities between $500 million and $1 billion.

Edits by EP News Bureau