Clovis Oncology Inc. filed for bankruptcy and plans to sell its experimental cancer drug at an auction with Novartis Innovative Therapies making a binding, opening bid worth as much as $681 million, Bloomberg News reported. Novartis has agreed to pay $50 million initially and another $630.75 million in payments if the cancer drug, FAP-2286, wins regulatory approval and later hits certain sale goals, Clovis said in a statement. The agreement will be considered the opening bid of a court-supervised auction, should a judge approve the deal and competing offers come in. For Clovis, which once had a market value of over $3 billion, the opening bid for its pipeline candidate is a far cry from the $5.1 billion that a competitor secured from GSK Plc in 2018. Back then Clovis was riding high on speculation it could secure a similar deal for another cancer drug, Rubraca. But regulatory setbacks and disappointing sales have left the company saddled with debts. The company is also talking to other parties about selling different parts of its business.
