Zymergen is in post-confirmation liquidation through the ZYM Liquidating Trust, with the current docket focused on claim reconciliation, distributions, and residual tax issues rather than a going-concern restructuring. The case began on October 3, 2023, after the synthetic biology company’s post-IPO business plan deteriorated: Hyaline underperformed commercially and technically, Zymergen discontinued programs, reduced headcount, merged into Ginkgo Bioworks, and still faced continuing losses, litigation, and an SEC investigation despite having no funded debt and about $7.4 million of unpaid trade obligations, as described in the Claire Smith first day declarationDkt. 9.
The debtors moved quickly onto a liquidation track, filing a chapter 11 liquidation plan the day after the petition date through the Chapter 11 Plan of LiquidationDkt. 27. The later revised plan supplementDkt. 365 set the operating mechanics for the Zymergen Liquidating Trust, including Neal Goldman as initial liquidating trustee, a mandate to liquidate remaining assets and resolve claims rather than operate a business, a five-year trust term subject to limited extension, and a 180-day post-effective-date claims objection framework.
The plan has been confirmed and effective since February 2024, and the trust’s March 31, 2026 post-confirmation report shows a mature wind-down: cumulative cash disbursements of about $48.7 million, cumulative general unsecured claim payments of about $34.8 million against $62.6 million of allowed GUC claims, and only modest current-quarter GUC payments, according to the . The most recent substantive development is the court’s April 29, 2026 supplemental order approving a $100,000 resolution of IRS claims, split between priority tax and general unsecured components, while preserving the trust’s rights over future IRS claims and third-party tax-related causes of action, in the .
