Sorrento Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ: SRNE) has announced that late-stage preclinical products, the novel oral Mpro inhibitor, STI-1558, can effectively inhibit the Omicron virus from entering and replicating in cell bases samples.
STI-1558 has shown efficacy in preventing Omicron from replication
The Omicron strain of the coronavirus is causing a global outbreak, and existing vaccinations and EUA-approved antibodies provide only a little prevention against Omicron spread and infection. STI-1558 is an oral Mpro antagonist that has shown expansive anti-SARS-CoV-2 effectiveness in preclinical trials when tested against the original SARS-CoV-2 variant and all previous prevalent variants of concern.
A cell-based neutralizing experiment was used to investigate STI-1558’s antiviral efficacy against Omicron. Without efflux inhibitor, STI-1558 as a single agent showed considerable antiviral effectiveness in VeroE6 cells infected with the Omicron variation, with an EC50 value of 360 nM, comparable to that reported against the Delta type (EC50 value, 370 nM). In addition, STI-1558 efficiently prevented pseudovirus entrance into cells in an Omicron S protein-mediated pseudovirus entry experiment, whereas EUA-approved nirmatrelvir had no impact. STI-1558, in particular, outperformed nirmatrelvir in terms of human liver metabolic consistency, and its rate of absorption is unaffected by ritonavir co-administration. Because STI-1558 does not require co-administration of Ritonavir, it may reduce the risk of serious drug-drug reactions.
Sorrento is dedicated to addressing COVID-19 with various therapies
Sorrento CEO Henry Ji stated, “With Omicron becoming a globally dominant variant of SARS-CoV-2 in such a short period of time, we are focused on developing an effective therapeutic strategy for fighting the Omicron variant and future variants of concern, and most importantly, for preventing or overcoming drug-resistance.
The company is committed to creating and delivering effective, innovative anti-SARS-CoV-2 therapies that can help end the COVID-19 pandemic and save lives. Sorrento is also working on prospective coronavirus antiviral medicines and vaccines, such as Abivertinib, COVI-AMG, COVI-MSC, COVISHIELD, and COVIDROPS, as well as diagnostic testing solutions, such as COVISTIX and COVITRACK. In addition, the company is also developing life-enhancing treatments like the first-in-class (TRPV1 agonist) non-opioid pain management molecules, resiniferatoxin.
