Eleven biopharmaceutical companies have filed for bankruptcy so far in 2019, the most in a single year within the past decade, according to a new series from BioPharma Dive.
Why it matters: It’s rare for biotechs to go under because they have so much access to extra funding. But more firms have hit dead ends.
Between the lines: The reasons for the biotech bankruptcies run the gamut, but in general, all of the companies burn cash at a high rate.
- Purdue Pharma and Insys Therapeutics have been caught in opioid litigation, and more opioid companies could be following in bankruptcy court.
- Other companies that shuttered ranged from companies that sold dubious drugs to those that went public before having any meaningful clinical data.
- The fall of Achaogen, which developed one of the world’s essential new medicines, speaks to the failures of the antibiotics market.
Why you’ll hear about this again: “You’re probably going to see more of these situations going forward, where a company is preclinical, went public and is left on their own and has to raise additional money from the public markets, and they flounder,” the CEO of a bankrupt biotech firm told BioPharma Dive.
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