aibioSangamo bankruptcy auction brings in $163.55 million from PTC and Lilly
Winning bids yield about $163.55 million in cash at closing and up to $100 million in milestones. Every sale still needs court approval, and the company is still selling other assets.
Key facts
- Companies
- Sangamo Therapeutics, Inc. (OTC: SGMOQ), Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE: LLY)
- News type
- Distress
- Primary source
- Sangamo Therapeutics (SEC Form 8-K and press release)
The auction
Sangamo Therapeutics, Inc. said on August 13, 2026 that a court-supervised auction under Section 363 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code had selected winning bids yielding approximately $163.55 million in cash consideration at closing, plus potential future milestone payments of up to $100 million. The company is in Chapter 11 in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware, Case No. 26-10989, and its shares trade on the OTCID Basic Market under SGMOQ. Nasdaq suspended trading in the common stock on May 5, 2026 after a determination to delist it, and on July 14, 2026 a Nasdaq Hearings Panel denied the company's request to continue its listing.
Sangamo filed its petition on June 23, 2026. The court approved bidding procedures on July 14, bids were due August 4 and the auction was held on August 10. The sales remained subject to final court approval, with Sale Hearings expected in the third quarter of 2026.
The buyers and their prices
PTC Therapeutics will buy the Fabry disease program, isaralgagene civaparvovec, also called ST-920, for $111 million in cash at closing, plus up to $100 million in milestones: $80 million on accelerated approval from the FDA and $20 million on traditional or full approval. Eli Lilly and Company will buy the capsid delivery, zinc finger and modular integrase (MINT) platforms and the prion disease program ST-506 for $50 million in cash at closing. The release expected the Lilly sale to close on or about September 4, 2026. Various bidders were selected for certain tools and equipment for $2.55 million in cash at closing.
The $163.55 million is cash at closing only. The milestones come on top and depend on FDA decisions for which the release gives no date. Any proceeds will be administered and distributed under the Chapter 11 process and court orders, and the release does not say what, if anything, common holders will receive.
What the PTC filing added
On August 25, 2026 Sangamo signed an asset purchase agreement with PTC, which also assumes certain specified liabilities. The milestone payments depend on a biologics license application for ST-920 in Fabry disease based on the Phase 1/2 STAAR study and its long-term follow-up study. PTC must use commercially reasonable efforts to reach them. Closing depended on a final sale order, expiry of Hart-Scott-Rodino waiting periods and certain employee retention conditions. Either side could end it if closing had not occurred by October 15, 2026. A court hearing was set for September 10, 2026.
A later 8-K reports that the court entered a sale order on September 2, 2026 and that the PTC sale closed on September 17, 2026 for the $111,000,000 in cash and up to $100,000,000 in contingent consideration. That filing carries the company's own warning that trading in its common stock during the case is highly speculative and that prices may bear little or no relationship to any recovery by holders.
What is still for sale, and who is advising
The company says it continues to solicit offers for ST-503, a chronic neuropathic pain program, giroctocogene fitelparvovec for hemophilia A, and its cell therapy and regulatory T cell assets. Chief Executive Officer Sandy Macrae said the platforms and the Fabry and prion programs drew strong interest.
Sangamo's legal counsel is Cooley LLP and Richards, Layton & Finger, PA. Its financial advisor is MERU, LLC and its restructuring banker is Raymond James. Kurtzman Carson Consultants, LLC, doing business as Verita Global, is the noticing and claims agent.
The financial record
The 10-K, filed March 30, 2026, reports a net loss of $122.9 million for 2025, against $97.9 million for 2024. Research and development expense was $112.7 million, against $111.5 million. Cash used in operations rose to $97.2 million from $67.1 million. The 10-K warned that the company might cease operations, liquidate assets or seek bankruptcy protection in the very near term, as part of its going concern discussion. A 10-Q filed May 14, 2026 reports cash and cash equivalents of $20.9 million at year-end 2025, against $41.9 million a year earlier, and $27.6 million at March 31, 2026. Cash used in operations in 2025 far exceeded either balance.