SORRENTO THERAPEUTICS, INC. (NASDAQ:SRNE) Files An 8-K Regulation FD Disclosure
Item 7.01
On April 3, 2019, Sorrento Therapeutics, Inc. (the “Company) filed two legal actions against, among others, Patrick Soon-Shiong and entities controlled by him, asserting claims for, among other things, fraud and breach of contract, arising out of Soon-Shiong’s purchase of the drug Cynviloq™ from the Company in May 2015. The actions allege that Soon-Shiong and the other defendants, among other things, acquired the drug Cynviloq™ for the purpose of halting its progression to the market. Specifically, the Company has filed:
| (1) | an arbitration demand with the American Arbitration Association in Los Angeles, California against NantPharma, LLC and Chief Executive Officer Patrick Soon-Shiong, seeking damages in excess of $1 billion, as well as additional punitive damages, related to alleged fraud and breaches of the Stock Sale and Purchase Agreement, dated May 14, 2015, entered into between NantPharma LLC and the Company, included as Exhibit 10.2 to the Company’s Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) on August 7, 2015. The Company makes no representations as to the likely success or outcome of such arbitration; and |
| (2) | an action in the Los Angeles Superior Court derivatively on behalf of Immunotherapy NANTibody LLC (“NANTibody”) against NantCell, Inc., NANTibody Board Member and NantCell, Inc. Chief Executive Officer Patrick Soon-Shiong, and NANTibody officer Charles Kim, related to several breaches of the June 11, 2015 Limited Liability Company Agreement for NANTibody entered into between the Company and NantCell, Inc. The suit also alleges breaches of fiduciary duties and seeks, inter alia, a declaration that the Assignment Agreement entered into on July 2, 2017, between NantPharma, LLC and NANTibody is void and an equitable unwinding of the Assignment Agreement. The suit calls for the restoration of $90.05 million to the NANTibody capital account, thereby restoring the Company’s equity method investment in NANTibody to its invested amount as of June 30, 2017 amount of $40 million. The Company makes no representations as to the likely success or outcome of such lawsuit. |
The Company hereby reiterates and incorporates its statements in its Annual Report filed on Form 10-K with the SEC on March 15, 2019, under “Equity Method Investments—NANTibody” of Note 9 of the Consolidated Financial Statements of the Company.
About SORRENTO THERAPEUTICS, INC. (NASDAQ:SRNE)
Sorrento Therapeutics, Inc. is a biopharmaceutical company. The Company is engaged in the discovery, acquisition, development and commercialization of drug therapeutics. Its primary therapeutic focus is oncology, including the treatment of chronic cancer pain. It is also developing therapeutic products for other indications, including immunology and infectious diseases. Its products in the pipeline include Chimeric Antigen Receptor-T Cell (CAR-T) programs, resiniferatoxin (RTX), and biosimilar/biobetter antibodies clinical development programs. Its pipeline also includes preclinical fully human therapeutic monoclonal antibodies (mAbs), including biosimilars/biobetters, fully human anti-PD-L1 and anti-PD-1 checkpoint inhibitors derived from its G-MAB library platform, antibody drug conjugates (ADCs), bispecific antibodies (BsAbs), as well as CAR-T and Chimeric Antigen Receptor Natural Killer (NK) cells (CAR. NK) for adoptive cellular immunotherapy.
