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U.S. drugmaker Clovis Oncology Inc. on Sunday filed for bankruptcy protection in Delaware, hit by a fall in sales of its cancer drug and challenges in raising additional capital, Reuters reported. 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 on Monday. 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 U.S. 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.

U.S. prosecutors, laying the groundwork for a potential fraud case against Sam Bankman-Fried and others involved in the collapse of cryptocurrency giant FTX, are scrutinizing how funds held by the exchange operator moved outside the U.S. as it was hurtling toward bankruptcy, Bloomberg News reported. Prosecutors are closely examining whether hundreds of millions of dollars were improperly transferred to the Bahamas around the time of FTX’s Nov. 11 bankruptcy filing in Delaware, the person said, asking not to be named without authorization to discuss the case publicly. As Justice Department officials embark on a sweeping investigation into how FTX handled customers’ cash and assets, they met this week with FTX’s court-appointed overseers to discuss materials they aim to gather, the person said. They’re also digging into whether FTX broke the law by transferring funds to Alameda Research, the bankrupt investment firm also founded by Bankman-Fried, an area of inquiry that has been reported previously. Bankman-Fried, who’s in the Bahamas and hasn’t been charged with any crimes, has admitted to grievous managerial errors at FTX but steadfastly denied that he ever knowingly misused customers’ funds.

Symbiont.io, which almost a decade ago joined the rush of startups trying to bring crypto's underlying blockchain technology into conventional finance, filed for chapter 11 protection on Dec. 1, CoinDesk.com reported. The New York-based company said that its assets and liabilities both ranged between $1 million and $10 million, according to a filing with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for Southern District of New York. Originally named Math Money FX, the company was formed in 2013 to help financial institutions leverage the Bitcoin blockchain to "reduce risk, save costs, and increase efficiencies," according to a company timeline. Early on, it raised money from finance titans including the former CEO of the New York Stock Exchange, and allowed investors to track the cap table (finance jargon for who owns how much of a privately held startup) using the Bitcoin network. Over the years, it continued to win partnerships with large institutions including index-fund giant Vanguard. Just last year, Vanguard and State Street used Symbiont's platform for a foreign exchange forward contract. And just a few months ago, SWIFT, which helps banks move money across borders, said it was using Symbiont's technology. But it apparently fell into distress amid the brutal bear market in crypto that's felled other players, too.

A bankruptcy judge approved a new $34.5 million loan to allow Reverse Mortgage Investment Trust Inc. to continue operating under chapter 11 after rising interest rates disrupted its business, WSJ Pro Bankruptcy reported. In an emergency hearing Thursday, Judge Mary Walrath of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Wilmington, Del., granted approval for a $44.5 million loan. Of the total, $10 million was already advanced to Reverse Mortgage by Leadenhall Capital Partners LLP, one of its lenders. The $34.5 million in new financing is being provided by Leadenhall and Reverse Mortgage’s parent company, BNGL Holdings LLC, a Starwood Capital Group affiliate. The funds are critical for Reverse Mortgage to “deliver money into the hands of consumers” and to “mitigate disruption to borrowers and facilitate a smooth transition” of its mortgage-servicing platform to reverse-mortgage provider Longbridge Financial LLC, said Anthony Grossi, a lawyer representing the bankrupt company. Bloomfield, N.J.-based Reverse Mortgage is one of the U.S.’s largest originators and servicers of reverse mortgages, which enable people — typically seniors — to tap into the equity built up in their homes. Most of the mortgages originated by the company are insured by the Federal Housing Administration. Reverse Mortgage securitized those loans and sold them to investors to generate revenue. The company also originated and serviced other loans.

Party City Holdco Inc., a purveyor of party favors, has engaged attorneys to help it evaluate options to address a liquidity crunch while its bondholders have tapped restructuring professionals as well, WSJ Pro Bankruptcy reported. Party City has been suffering from widening net losses, and its recent Halloween sales came in at the low end of expectations in part because inflationary pressures have hampered customers’ willingness to spend, the company said last month. Party City has engaged law firm Paul Weiss Rifkind Wharton & Garrison LLP as restructuring counsel. Meanwhile, investors with interests in Party City’s bonds have engaged the law firm Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP, as well as financial adviser Lazard Ltd. In addition to the macroeconomic headwinds the company has faced, Party City is also contending with constraints in the market for helium, a key gas it uses to blow up balloons. The company has said it is working to diversify its sources of helium to alleviate the supply limitations and price increases in the helium market, which have pressured both its retail and wholesale business segments.

FTX's new chief executive officer and attorneys this week met with Justice Department officials as the investigation into the crypto firm's collapse continues, Reuters reported. FTX Trading's new CEO John J. Ray III and lawyers for the crypto firm met in person with prosecutors from the Manhattan U.S. attorney's office, which has been leading a probe into the firm's sudden collapse. A Justice Department spokesperson declined to comment. Last month, FTX filed for U.S. bankruptcy protection and its founder Sam Bankman-Fried resigned as chief executive, after rival exchange Binance walked away from a proposed acquisition. Ray, who was tapped to oversee the firm's restructuring, has said the company is working with law enforcement and regulators. FTX is cooperating with the government's investigations and may have further meetings with prosecutors, said the source, who declined to be named, as the meeting and the investigation are not public.

The U.S. securities regulator on Thursday advised public companies to examine whether they need to disclose to investors any potential impacts from turmoil in the cryptocurrency industry, Reuters reported. The guidance from the Securities and Exchange Commission's (SEC) division of corporation finance - tasked with ensuring that public companies give investors key information - is the latest sign that regulators are on high alert for further fallout in the wake of the collapse of major crypto firms, including FTX and BlockFi Inc. In guidance to public companies, the SEC laid out information businesses may have to share with their investors, including whether the firms have any financially material exposures to counterparties that have filed for bankruptcy or become insolvent.

For 46 million Americans, rural hospitals are a lifeline, yet an increasing number of them are closing. The federal government is trying to resuscitate them with a new program that offers a huge infusion of cash to ease their financial strain. But it comes with a bewildering condition: They must end all inpatient care, the New York Times reported. The program, which invites more than 1,700 small institutions to become federally designated “rural emergency hospitals,” would inject monthly payments amounting to more than $3 million a year into each of their budgets, a game-changing total for many that would not only keep them open but allow them to expand services and staff. In return, they must commit to discharging or transferring their patients to bigger hospitals within 24 hours. The government’s reasoning is simple: Many rural hospitals can no longer afford to offer inpatient care. A rural closure is often preceded by a decline in volume, according to a congressional report, and empty beds can drain the hospital’s ability to provide the outpatient services that the community needs. But the new opportunity is presenting many institutions with an excruciating choice. “On one hand, you have a massive incentive, a ‘Wow!’ kind of deal that feels impossible to turn down,” said Harold Miller, the president of the nonprofit Center for Healthcare Quality and Payment Reform. “But it’s based on this longstanding myth that they’ve been forced to deliver inpatient services — not that their communities need those services to survive.”