TNK Therapeutics acquires multiple preclinical and clinical stage CAR-T immunotherapy programs

Sorrento Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ: SRNE) (Sorrento) announced today that its wholly-owned subsidiary, TNK Therapeutics, Inc., has acquired multiple preclinical and clinical stage chimeric antigen receptor (CAR)-T immunotherapy programs as well as underlying CAR-T technology through the acquisition of two privately-held biotechnology companies. The CAR-T programs focus on targeting solid tumors as well as infectious diseases.

"We are very pleased to enter the dynamic CAR-T immunotherapy field with these clinical stage assets targeting solid tumors, an area of great unmet medical need," said Dr. Henry Ji, President and CEO of Sorrento. "Especially exciting is the potential of combining the CAR-T therapies with Sorrento's immune-oncology programs, such as anti-PD1 and anti-CTLA4 monoclonal antibodies (mAbs). We recently in-licensed late clinical stage biobetter mAbs of the marketed antibodies infliximab, cetuximab, and basiliximab, as well as a biosimilar mAb of omalizumab. Utilizing these assets, combination therapies of our biobetter mAb of basiliximab, an anti-CD25 mAb that has been used to target and deplete immunosuppressive regulatory T cells, or cetuximab, an anti-EGFR (epithelial growth factor receptor) mAb, may work synergistically with our CAR-T and CAR.TNK programs for the treatment of solid tumors. With these acquisitions of clinical and pre-clinical CAR constructs, TNK Therapeutics is now positioned to accelerate the development of in-house adoptive immunotherapies, including the "off-the-shelf" CAR.TNK programs in our exclusive partnership with NantKwest. This breadth of complementary clinical programs and enabling technologies truly positions TNK Therapeutics to be a leader in the field of adoptive immunotherapies."

Information about these CAR-T programs, underlying technologies as well as the biosimilar/biobetter antibodies will be detailed in Sorrento's updated corporate presentation later this month.