deCODE files for bankruptcy

Iceland-based genomics pioneer deCODE linkurl:announced this morning;http://www.decode.com/News/news.php?s=32 (November 17) that it has filed for bankruptcy. It will sell some of its holdings, but plans to continue operating its business and managing its properties as it does now.

Image: Wikimedia commons, Jerome Walker, Dennis Myts

In the filing, deCODE listed total assets of $69.9 million and total debt of $313.9 million, as of June 30, 2009. deCODE, launched in 1996, quickly became a leader in human genomics research. In the last two years alone, deCODE scientists have linkurl:published at least 30;http://www.decode.com/Publications/Index.php peer-reviewed research papers, all in top tier journals such as Nature, Science, and the New England Journal of Medicine. But the company has never turned a profit and has lost more than $600 million since its inception. In September, deCODE closed its Woodridge, Illinois facility, cutting about 60 jobs. To address these financial concerns, deCODE "explored multiple...