Sorrento Therapeutics shares jumped as much as doubled, following the company's announcement that it was close to achieving a drug to treat the coronavirus.
The biopharma company said that as part of its lab research, it has identified a new treatment/antibody that provides "100% inhibition of SARS-CoV-2 virus infection of healthy cells after four days incubation.” According to Sorrento, this breakthrough has come after it screened out billions of candidates.
"STI-1499 completely neutralized the virus infectivity at a very low antibody dose, making it a prime candidate for further testing and development. Initial biochemical and biophysical analyses also indicate STI-1499 is a potentially strong antibody drug candidate.", the company mentioned in its statement.
Sorrento's findings are subject to peer review by other scientists, and the research has not been tested on human beings, according to reports.
Sorrento also claims that this newly discovered antibody, labelled the STI-1499, could be developed and made available before a vaccine enters the market.
Meanwhile, the company continues to work on production of a separate, antibody “cocktail” that could provide protection against SARS-CoV-2 even in case of mutations in the virus.
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