Sorrento Therapeutics, Inc. has formed a wholly owned subsidiary, TNK Therapeutics, Inc., which will focus on on developing CAR.TNKs (Chimeric Antigen Receptor Tumor-attacking Neukoplast) as well as other complementary cellular and immunotherapies targeting both solid tumors and hematological malignancies.

In December 2014, Sorrento entered into a global exclusive partnership with Conkwest, Inc., an immunotherapy company developing proprietary Neukoplast (NK-92), a natural killer (NK) cell-line based therapy, to jointly develop CAR.TNK immunotherapies for the treatment of cancer and infectious diseases. The CAR.TNK technology platform combines Conkwest’s Neukoplast cell line with Sorrento’s proprietary G-MAB fully human antibody technology and CAR designs to further enhance the anti-cancer potency and tumor targeting of Neukoplast. Under the terms of this agreement, both companies will jointly select CAR.TNKs to be developed with the ‘lead company’ responsible for advancing the candidates into the clinic. Profit sharing from future sales and potential strategic collaborations with other pharmaceutical partners will be determined by the development stage of the drug candidates.

This is the latest in a string of recent partnerships by Sorrento for immunotherapeutics. In March 2015, Sorrento entered into a global collaboration with NantCell, a NantWorks company, to discover and develop immunotherapies against tumor neo-epitopesIn. In December 2014, Sorrento and NantWorks formed a global joint venture, now called Nantibody, to focus on immunotherapies for cancer.

Source: Sorrento Therapeutics