Eiger BioPharmaceuticals, Inc., a Palo Alto-based commercial-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on rare disease therapeutics, filed for Chapter 11 protection on April 1, 2024 in the Northern District of Texas (Case No. 24-80040, Judge Stacey G. C. Jernigan). The company, which held approximately $38.8 million in assets and $53.1 million in liabilities at filing, was burdened by an ~$41.7 million term loan from Innovatus Capital Partners and faced a cascade of clinical and regulatory setbacks including the FDA's September 2022 rejection of peginterferon lambda for COVID-19 and the September 2023 discontinuation of a Phase III hepatitis delta trial due to safety events. The restructuring centered on a structured asset sale process that generated approximately $80.3 million in gross proceeds: Zokinvy (lonafarnib) sold to Sentynl Therapeutics for $45.2 million net after 35 rounds of bidding, and avexitide sold to Amylyx Pharmaceuticals for $35.1 million. The Fifth Amended Joint Plan of Liquidation was confirmed on September 5, 2024 with an effective date of September 30, 2024. The case produced an unusually favorable outcome: secured creditors received full payment, unsecured creditors received full payment with interest, and equity holders received substantial distributions—a rare result in biotech liquidations.
