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August 2010 
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Genetics Company DeCode Files For Bankruptcy |
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Pauline Renaud, November 2009 |
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(18 November 2009)
DeCode Genetics Inc., an Iceland company that develops medicine based on the studies of the human genome, has filed for bankruptcy protection, due to serious financial trouble since autumn last year. At the time, it informed investors it did not have enough funds to carry on trading without selling parts of its business.
According to a statement, the company announced it would now sell “substantially all of its assets”, including its DNA bank, which contains genetic information on 140,000 Icelanders. The company agreed to sell its drug discovery and development programs, and an Icelandic unit that conducts human genetic research to Saga Investments LLC for about $14m, according to court documents.
“In recent months, DeCode and its advisers have explored multiple restructuring alternatives, including the sale of specific portions of DeCode’s operations, the sale or license of its drug discovery programs, the restructuring of its outstanding convertible notes and the obtaining of new equity financing,” the company said in a statement.
DeCode was founded in 1996 with money from US venture capitalists and a genealogical-database licence from the Icelandic government.
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