Sorrento Acquires the Sofusa Lymphatic Delivery Platform for Immune-Oncology (I-O) Antibody Therapeutics

Sorrento Therapeutics announced that it acquired the Sofusa lymphatic delivery technology platform from Kimberly-Clark Corporation for targeted biopharmaceuticals, particularly, the immune checkpoint inhibitors (such as anti-PD-1, CTLA4, CD47 antibodies) and other I-O antibodies.

Pioneered by inventor Dr. Russell F. Ross and the innovation team at Kimberly-Clark, the Sofusa technology consists of proprietary nano-structured microneedles designed to access the lymphatic capillaries just below the epidermis. In a recent Phase I human study, the Sofusa system has successfully demonstrated the ability to precisely tune the pharmacokinetic profile of sumatriptan to give both rapid onset and an extended treatment duration for the acute treatment of migraine.

“Sofusa technology allows pharmacological targeting of the lymphatics allowing new treatment strategies for cancer and chronic inflammatory conditions,” said Dr. Eva Sevick-Muraca, Ph.D., Professor and the Nancy and Rich Kinder Distinguished Chair of Cardiovascular Disease Research at the University of Texas Health Science Center’sInstitute of Molecular Medicine (IMM). She is a biomedical engineer who has pioneered lymphatic imaging in humans and preclinical models of human disease and has been an advisor to Sofusa. Recently, her group presented preclinical work at AACR delivering an anti-CTLA4 mAb using the Sofusa device in a mouse model of metastatic breast cancer1.

“Delivering higher drug concentrations via the lymphatics could provide more direct and sustained exposure to therapeutic targets known to modulate immune responses. We believe this has the potential to result in an improved safety and efficacy profile for checkpoint inhibitors and anti-inflammatory agents. Sorrento is now well positioned to becoming a leader in the immunotherapy field and fulfill our mission to develop best-in-class antibodies for patients,” said Dr. Jerry Zeldis, Chief Medical Officer for Sorrento.

“We are impressed with Sofusa’s data, where in preclinical models using immunomodulatory antibodies, the Sofusa system consistently demonstrated significantly higher lymphatic levels compared to other delivery routes while exhibiting equipotent or better therapeutic activity. We believe that the Sofusa technology could be a game changer for the delivery of our immunotherapies, including checkpoint inhibitors, biobetter antibodies, and other I-O antibodies,” said Dr. Henry Ji, President and CEO.