Failed vaccine, then bankruptcy

A Carlsbad, Calif., biotech company co-founded by the late Jonas Salk to develop an AIDS vaccine has filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy protection.

Orchestra Therapeutics, formerly known as the Immune Response Corp., filed papers in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court of the Southern District of California, the North County Times reported. The company listed $32.61 million in liabilities and $1.64 million in assets, the newspaper reported.

The company gained national attention in the 1990s when it developed Remune, a vaccine to treat HIV that later fizzled because its effectiveness could not be proved.