Mallinckrodt said on Tuesday that it was preparing to seek bankruptcy protection for the second time in three years after struggling to make a required $200 million settlement payment to opioid victims, Reuters reported. The drugmaker, one of the largest makers of opioids, said that it is negotiating a restructuring support agreement with its stakeholders, while deferring deadlines for missed debt payments and opioid settlement payments to next week. The agreement contemplates a second bankruptcy filing that would result in no recovery for holders of its ordinary equity shares, Mallinckrodt said. The Ireland-based company failed to make scheduled payments to its lenders and opioid creditors in June, and it has sought several short-term extensions of the debt deadlines. Mallinckrodt emerged from bankruptcy last year after winning court approval for a reorganization plan that included a $1.7 billion settlement. It paid the first $450 million of that settlement after emerging from bankruptcy, but it failed to make a $200 million payment due in June. The company on Tuesday said it has reached an agreement to extend the opioid payment due date to Aug. 22.
