U.S. drugmaker Clovis Oncology said that it is likely to file for bankruptcy "in the very near term," as the company struggles to sell its cancer drug Rubraca, Reuters reported. Sales of Rubraca, Clovis's only approved drug, have been hit in recent years by intensifying competition from rival ovarian cancer treatments, and partly by lower cancer diagnoses during the COVID-related lockdowns. Rubraca sales fell by 10% to $148.8 million in the financial year 2021, compared to $164.5 million a year earlier. Colorado-based Clovis also highlighted future regulatory uncertainty around Rubraca, as health regulators have increasingly focused on data that shows cancer treatments help extend the survival in patients. Earlier this year, Clovis withdrew Rubraca as a third-line of treatment in Europe and the United States after data from a late-stage study failed to show that the drug improved overall survival. Other drugs from AstraZeneca Plc and GSK Plc belonging to the same class of treatments have also faced similar scrutiny. Shares of Clovis, which had a market capitalization of $141.59 million as of Tuesday's closing, slumped 71.9% to 28 cents on Wednesday.
