DARPA and JPEO Award Contract to SmartPharm, a Subsidiary of Sorrento, for Development of Rapid Countermeasure Against COVID-19 Using Gene-Encoded Neutralizing Antibodies - Seite 2

Dr. Henry Ji, CEO of Sorrento, commented, “We are excited that DARPA and JPEO have recognized our Gene MAbs platform as a potential rapid countermeasure for COVID-19 and the potential value for other applications to combat future viral diseases of pandemic potential. We acquired SmartPharm with the vision of combining the power of our antibody and biologic therapies for cancer and infectious diseases with next-generation gene-encoded technologies. We look forward to working with our Department of Defense partners to potentially add a novel approach to the arsenal of solutions for combating this devastating disease.”

DARPA, founded in 1958, is an agency of the U.S. Department of Defense. Through collaborations with academic, industry, and government partners, DARPA makes investments across multiple sectors to drive breakthrough technologies for U.S. national security. Through the collaboration with JPEO-CBRND, this work is supported by the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Health Affairs with funding from the Defense Health Agency.

About SmartPharm Therapeutics

SmartPharm Therapeutics, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Sorrento Therapeutics, Inc. (Nasdaq: SRNE), is a development stage biopharmaceutical company focused on developing next-generation, non-viral gene therapies for the treatment of serious or rare diseases with the vision of creating “biologics from within.” SmartPharm is currently developing a novel pipeline of non-viral, gene-encoded proteins for the treatment of conditions that require biologic therapy such as enzyme replacement and tissue restoration. SmartPharm commenced operations in 2018 and is headquartered in Cambridge, MA, USA. For more information, please visit www.smartpharmtx.com.

About Sorrento Therapeutics, Inc.

Sorrento is a clinical stage, antibody-centric, biopharmaceutical company developing new therapies to treat cancers. Sorrento's multimodal, multipronged approach to fighting cancer is made possible by its extensive immuno-oncology platforms, including key assets such as fully human antibodies ("G-MAB library"), clinical stage immuno-cellular therapies ("CAR-T", "DAR-T"), antibody-drug conjugates ("ADCs"), and clinical stage oncolytic virus ("Seprehvir"). Sorrento is also developing potential antiviral therapies and vaccines against coronaviruses, including COVI-GUARD, COVI-AMG, COVI-SHIELD, Gene MAb and COVI-DROPS; and diagnostic test solutions, including COVI-TRACK, COVI-STIX and COVI-TRACE.