Sorrento Therapeutics Inc (NASDAQ: SRNE) took over ACEA Therapeutics Inc for $38 Million. The company issued 5.519 million common shares to satisfy ACEA’s outstanding indebtedness.
The shareholders of ACEA will also receive $450 million from Sorrento on achieving certain sales and clinical milestones and regulatory approvals.
Access to multiple NCE drugs
Sorrento’s CEO, Henry Ji, said the takeover helps the company access multiple NCE drug candidates like Abivertinib to treat autoimmune diseases and several types of cancer.
Sorrento would become a leader in the development and commercialization of innovative drugs and save several lives worldwide by using the expertise of ACEA in biological and pharmaceutical drug discovery. ACEA would also bring synergistic infrastructures and expertise in the production, development, and improved geographic coverage in North America and China.
ACEA’s president, Xiao Xu, said both the companies would engage in the development of innovative formulations and provide improved therapeutic solutions for several unmet medical conditions in the market.
Sorrento will strengthen its drug development in the autoimmune and cancer areas by integrating ACEA’s small molecule drug pipelines with its cell therapy and large molecule platforms.
Enters a deal with KI
Sorrento signed a research collaboration accord with research groups associated with the NextGenNK Competence Center at the Department of Medicine, KI (Karolinska Institutet).
Both the companies would develop innovative cell-based therapeutics with the help of NK (Natural Killer) cells.
KI coordinates the development of NextGenNK
NK cells are derived from iPSCs (induced pluripotent stem cells). KI and Sorrento are associates in developing NextGenNK (next-generation NK cell-based cancer immunotherapies), in which KI is the coordinator.
Sorrento will offer Know-how for CAR (chimeric antigen receptor) and DAR (dimeric antigen receptor) technologies. It will also extend support for the development of innovative DAR-NK and CAR-NK candidates.
Sorrento will also provide funds for TVT (translational validation technologies). Both companies would develop and test multiple drug candidates in the initial phase to get qualified for clinical trials of these product candidates.
The proprietary DAR and CAR constructs that are foundational to this program are detected through Sorrento’s G-MAB fully HAL (human antibody library).
Henry said the company is proud to continue its collaborative work with a renowned KI faculty. It is also pleased to share its technologies for the development of adoptive and off-the-shelf NK cell immunotherapies. The deal helps to bring innovative medicines to improve the life of cancer patients.
