Biolex Therapeutics files for $38M bankruptcy

Posted 7-6-2012 on Bizjournals.com. Biolex Therapeutics has filed for bankruptcy, which effectively terminates the development of it's controlled release alpha interferon-2b and presumably it's relationship with OctoPlus as a result. Boo.  

Biolex Therapeutics files for $38M bankruptcy

Triangle Business Journal by Chris Bagley, Staff Writer
Date: Friday, July 6, 2012, 8:07am EDT

Chris Bagley
Staff Writer- Triangle Business Journal

Biolex Therapeutics Inc. has filed for bankruptcy liquidation, marking an inauspicious end to $190 million that investors had poured into the Pittsboro-based company since its founding in 1997.

The company's Chapter 7 filing on July 3 cited $38 million in liabilities, including nearly $5 million owed to Intersouth Partners of Durham. Other large creditors include Clarus Lifesciences, a venture capital firm with offices in the San Francisco and Boston areas, which is owed $8.4 million, and an investment arm of the pharmaceutical giant Johnson & Johnson, which has a $3.8 million claim, according to Biolex's filing.

Clarus, Intersouth and the J&J fund are also listed as the company's largest, second-largest and third-largest shareholders, with 27 percent, 13 percent and 11 percent stakes, respectively.

Biolex's filing showed just $803,000 in assets.

Biolex recently had faced an increasingly daunting task of raising money to develop its Locteron drug for hepatitis C. The company had touted the drug as likely to have milder side effects and more convenient dosing than existing hepatitis C treatments.

Biolex shrank from 70 employees at its peak to about 13 in February. CFO Dale Sander told Triangle Business Journal that month that the company was considering a sale as one of several alternatives to continue Locteron's development.

Like other varieties of hepatitis, hep C can cause fatigue and loss of appetite ­or no symptoms at all and can ultimately lead to cirrhosis. The lettered varieties of hepatitis are all brought about by different viruses, and the drugs for treating them also vary.

Chris Bagley covers the legal-services industry, transportation and utilities. Follow him on Twitter @cbagley.