$SRNE Sorrento Therapeutics (SRNE) Announces STI-1499, A Potent Anti-SARS-CoV-2 Antibody, Demonstrates Ability To Completely Inhibit In Vitro Virus Infection In Preclinical Studies
Sorrento Therapeutics, Inc. (Nasdaq: SRNE) announced today that its anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibody, STI-1499, demonstrated 100% inhibition of SARS-CoV-2 virus infection in an in vitro virus infection experiment at a very low antibody concentration.
As recently announced, Sorrento aims to generate an antibody cocktail product that would act as a "protective shield" against SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus infection and remain effective even if virus mutations render a single antibody therapy less effective over time.
Sorrento has been diligently screening billions of antibodies in its proprietary G-MAB fully human antibody library and has so far identified hundreds of antibody candidates that bind the S1 subunit of the SARS-CoV-2 Spike protein. Approximately one dozen of these antibodies have demonstrated the ability to block the S1 protein's interaction with human angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2), the receptor used for viral entrance into human cells. These blocking antibodies were further tested for their ability to inhibit SARS-CoV-2 virus infection in an in vitro SARS-CoV-2 virus infection model pursuant to a preclinical testing agreement for COVID-19 therapeutic candidates that was previously announced on March 31, 2020 (Sorrento Therapeutics).