Athenex

  • Background: Athenex, Inc. (“Athenex”), based in Buffalo, NY, is a diversified global biopharmaceutical company dedicated to the sale of specialty pharmaceuticals via licensing agreements with global partners and the development of novel therapies for the treatment of cancer.
  • Cassel Salpeter:
    • Served as financial advisor to the company
    • Conducted a robust sales process, identifying and contacting nearly 300 strategic and financial parties
    • Significantly increased the value of the opening bid by running a competitive auction
    • Worked with the company to monetize ancillary assets to generate incremental value for the estate
  • Challenges:
    • Seeking to sell multiple, unrelated divisions of the company
    • Significant capital needed to fund clinical trial programs for developmental assets post acquisition 
    • Significant cure costs required bidders to negotiate deals with vendors
  • Outcome: In June 2023, the court approved the sale of Athenex’s APD assets to Sagent Pharmaceticals, Inc.  Accounts receivable were sold to Oaktree Capital Management, LP.  Assets related to the Orascovery platform were sold to C-MER Specialty Group Limited (HKG:03309).