Troubled Savient Pharmaceuticals, maker of the gout drug Krystexxa, is selling nearly all of its assets to Crealta Pharmaceuticals for $120.4 million.

The deal sees the end of Savient, which filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in October. It comes following an auction approved by the US Bankruptcy Court in Delaware which is expected to rubber-stamp the sale on December 13.

Savient has been on the look-out for a buyer pretty much since Krystexxa (pegloticase) was approved by the US Food and Drug Administration in September 2010 for the treatment of gout in adults who do not respond to conventional therapy. No purchaser had been found until bankruptcy proceedings began and it was announced that a $55 million offer from Sloan Holdings CV would serve as a 'stalking horse' bid.

Savient will receive over double that amount from Crealta, which was established in August with private-equity firm GTCR. Krystexxa has not made any impact on the gout market, hampered by an eye-watering price of over $30,000 for three-month treatment, and Savient has spent heavily on marketing, leading to its demise.