Tricida sales OK’d; U.S. trustee objects to disclosure statement

By Sarah Lizee

Olympia, Wash., Feb. 23 – Tricida, Inc. received court approval of a sale of its intellectual property to winning bidder Renibus Therapeutics, Inc., according to an order filed with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware.

The sale of the IP assets, which include those related to Tricida’s kidney drug, veverimer, could bring in up to $152 million.

Patheon Austria GmbH & Co. KG was named next-highest bidder for those assets.

Tricida also received approval of equipment sales.

U.S. trustee objection

Meanwhile, Andrew R. Vara, the U.S. trustee for Regions 3 and 9, has objected to the company’s disclosure statement for its Chapter 11 plan.

Vara said the plan’s opt-out mechanism for public shareholders is inappropriate.

“The debtor, a public company, has proposed a plan whereby its shareholders are to receive no distribution under the plan, have no right to vote on the plan, and are deemed to reject the same,” the U.S. trustee said in his objection.

Vara said the opt-out mechanism, which provides for negative, rather than affirmative, consent, is especially inappropriate as to the debtor’s shareholders because they aren’t set to receive anything for the releases that will be imposed on them.

And, since most of the stock of the debtor is held in street name, the debtor won’t be sending opt-out forms directly to most of the beneficial stockholders, but instead will send the forms to brokers. The debtor won’t have any control over when the shareholders will receive the opt-out forms.

Vara also noted that there is a pending shareholder lawsuit, styled as a class action, in which claims have been asserted against several current and former officers and directors, who are among the many recipients of the third-party releases.

The disclosure statement also doesn’t include a liquidation analysis, and otherwise fails to provide enough information regarding the plan, the U.S. trustee added.

The San Francisco-based pharmaceutical company filed bankruptcy on Jan. 11 under Chapter 11 case number 23-10024.

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