Sorrento Therapeutics, Inc. has entered into an exclusive licensing agreement to develop and commercialize multiple biosimilar antibodies from Mabtech Ltd., a holding company for antibody development and manufacturing companies in China.
 
Sorrento will develop and market four monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) for the North American, European and Japanese market. Each of the mAbs has completed a Phase III study; two are currently in registration for approval in China, while the other two are under analyses for subsequent NDA submission in China. One of the mAbs is based on a top selling oncology drug, and the other, a top selling antibody to treat auto-immune diseases. Together these four mAbs target an established market with combined annual sales in 2014 in excess of $13 Billion.
 
“Combining our expertise in immunotherapy and drug development with Mabtech’s experience in antibody development and commercial cGMP manufacturing positions the two companies well to increase access worldwide to biosimilars and improve global human health,” said Dr. Henry Ji, president and chief executive officer at Sorrento. “We look at this collaboration as a transformational event for Sorrento and are excited about its potential to complement our expanding and deep internal biologics portfolio.”
 
“We welcome the opportunity to work with Sorrento Therapeutics to bring our antibody products to a global market beyond the Greater China territory. During our discussions with the Sorrento team it became apparent that Sorrento is committed to be a leader in the antibody immunotherapy space,” added Mr. Zhen Jiao, chairman of Mabtech and chief executive officer of CDH Investments.