BioXcel Therapeutics (NASDAQ: BTAI) filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection Thursday August 27, 2026 after telling investors it lacked cash to fund operations through the end of August despite securing a bridge loan earlier the same week. Teva Pharmaceutical Industries (NYSE: TEVA) signed a stalking-horse asset sale agreement Friday August 28, 2026 to acquire BioXcel's lead neuroscience asset for $57.5 million upfront plus up to $67.5 million in milestone payments through a court-supervised auction. The lead asset is a novel dexmedetomidine sublingual film under FDA review for at-home use for the acute treatment of agitation associated with schizophrenia or bipolar I or II disorder in adults, with a PDUFA target action date of November 14, 2026. The stalking-horse bid sets the floor price for competing bidders. Teva positioned the acquisition as consistent with its 'Pivot to Growth' strategy and disciplined business development approach.
Gene-editing pioneer Sangamo Therapeutics filed a voluntary Chapter 11 petition in the US Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware on Tuesday June 23, 2026, after disclosing only $27.6 million in cash as of March 31 and a May 2026 Nasdaq delisting for minimum-bid-price non-compliance. Two simultaneous asset purchase agreements established the floor. Eli Lilly is the stalking-horse bidder at $50 million cash plus assumption of certain liabilities for Sangamo's capsid delivery platform, zinc finger platform, modular integrase (MINT) platform, and prion disease program ST-506. Astellas Pharma takes the Fabry disease asset isaralgagene civaparvovec (ST-920) under a separate agreement. The Lilly bid covers the assets most relevant to the peptide-adjacent neurology pipeline, with prion protein biology offering platform optionality for Lilly's broader neurodegeneration program. Both agreements remain subject to higher-or-better offers under standard Section 363 sale procedures. Sangamo simultaneously cut 51 employees, approximately 40% of its remaining workforce, with the remainder retained through the auction and sale process. The bankruptcy closes a 30-year arc that began as the zinc-finger nuclease pioneer through gene editing's commercial first wave, and underscores that gene-editing platform capital is now consolidating into large-pharma hands.