Shares of an Arizona pharmaceutical manufacturer that has been at the center of the controversy over opioid drugs continued to see-saw this week in the wake of a company regulatory filing that said it may have to file for bankruptcy protection or go out of business.
Chandler-based Insys Therapeutics Inc. (Nasdaq: INSY) expressed uncertainty as to whether it can continue to operate because of substantial legal costs related to settlements and cases with the Department of Justice.
The company's shares, which had closed at $3.60 on May 10, plummeted to 82 cents before recovering to close at 95 cents on May 13 as Wall Street traders reacted to the news as the filing went public that day.
The company has been at the center of the ongoing opioid crisis in the country. On May 2, its founder and former CEO John Kapoor and other former company executives were found guilty of racketeering and other charges in a scheme to sell additional doses of Subsys, a highly addictive opioid originally approved for cancer patients.
While the company has no debt, it only has liquid assets of $87.6 million as of March 31, according to the SEC filing, as well as approximate liabilities of $240.3 million related to its litigation issues. It also anticipates negative cash flow for the foreseeable future.
The company is trying to sell its controversial Subsys drug, along with its own formulation of the opioid addiction drug buprenorphine and a combination of buprenorphine and naloxone.
In the filing, the company also mentioned how it may not be able to complete a $150 million settlement with the DOJ reached last August.
On May 10, the company reported that its first quarter revenue fell nearly 70% to $7.6 million from the year-earlier period.
