Dendreon, a Seattle-based biotechnology company, and its U.S. subsidiaries filed voluntary petitions under Chapter 11 of the Bankruptcy Code in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware on Nov. 10.
The company’s financial restructuring may take the form of a standalone recapitalization or a sale of the company or its assets. The transactions will enable continued delivery of Provenge (sipuleucel-T) without disruption or impact to access for providers and appropriate patients in need of this revolutionary personalized immunotherapy treatment.
"Whether the restructuring takes the form of a standalone recapitalization or a sale of the company or its assets, we are confident that this process will allow Provenge to remain commercially available to the patients and providers who have come to rely on this revolutionary personalized cancer immunotherapy," said W. Thomas Amick, president and CEO of Dendreon.
The senior noteholders will support a plan of reorganization to convert all 2016 notes to common equity of the reorganized Dendreon. The agreements further provide for Dendreon to conduct a court-supervised sale process, pursuant to Section 363 of the Bankruptcy Code or through a plan of reorganization, for all or substantially all of its assets to a party that would continue producing and providing Provenge.
Qualified bids under the terms of the proposed bidding procedures will have to meet certain criteria and provide value of not less than $275 million. If more than one qualified bid is received, an auction will be held to determine the successful bidder with the highest or otherwise best bid, following which the company will seek to consummate that transaction. If no qualified bids are received, Dendreon will proceed to confirmation of the standalone plan.
Dendreon has significant liquidity to support all of its operations during the restructuring process, with approximately $100 million of cash, cash equivalents and investments on hand as of Nov. 7, and does not anticipate the need to raise any incremental financing in connection with the restructuring process.
During the restructuring process, the company will continue to operate in the ordinary course, including continuing to service distributors and wholesalers to ensure timely fulfillment of orders and shipments and to meet other obligations to physicians and patients who depend on Provenge. In addition, Dendreon has requested Court approval of the proposed bidding procedures and a series of customary motions allowing it to honor employee obligations, including wages, salaries and health benefits without interruption, as well as to continue customer programs and patient assistance programs.
