Argolyn Biosciences: The 2009 Biotech Graveyard

Company: Argolyn Bioscience
Based: Durham, NC

What went wrong: Argolyn was an early-stage company developing peptide drug candidates to treat psychosis, pain, and other diseases and disorders. Preclinical studies of its pain drug showed that it just wasn't potent enough, given how competitive the pain market is. Fortunately for investors, which included Intersouth Partners, the company went under before it started any costly drug trials.