- NIH division The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases ((NIAID) awards a Phase 2 Small Business Technology Transfer Research (STTR) grant to Sorrento Therapeutics (NASDAQ:SRNE -0.6%). The funds available under the grant are up to $1M per year for two years. The money will support the advanced preclinical development of human bispecific antibody therapeutics to prevent and treat Staphylococcus aureus infections, including methicillin-resistant S. aureus.
- NIAID also awards the company a Phase 1 STTR grant of $300K per year for up to two years to support the preclinical development of novel anti-Pseudomonas aeruginosa mAb immunotherapy or an Ab-mediated targeted antibiotic delivery vehicle.
- Sorrento President & CEO Henry Ji, Ph.D., says, "While Sorrento's main focus is bringing the clinical stage oncology asset Cynviloq and resiniferatoxin into the market as quickly as possible, non-dilutive funding from the NIH allows us to explore innovative therapies for unmet medical needs such as multiple drug resistant bacterial infections."