STAT Plus: Otsuka approved to buy bankrupt smart-pill maker Proteus’ assets, overcoming effort by Novartis to block purchase
The Japanese drug maker Otsuka has been approved to purchase the assets of bankrupt smart pill maker Proteus Digital Health for $15 million — capping off a spectacular fall for Proteus, which raised close to $500 million and soared to a valuation of $1.5 billion on the promise that its sensor technology could revolutionize how medications are taken and tracked.
The sale, approved on Wednesday by a federal bankruptcy court judge in Delaware after a three-day hearing, overcame the fierce objections of a group of Proteus investors that included the pharma giant Novartis. Those investors opposed Otsuka’s purchase of Proteus because they thought Otsuka, a longtime Proteus investor and partner, was an insider and that Proteus’s assets could go for a higher price had they been divided up and left up for sale for a longer period.
