On May 15, 2015 Sorrento Therapeutics reported that NantPharma, founded by Dr. Patrick Soon-Shiong and a member of the NantWorks ecosystem of companies, agreed to acquire the rights to Cynviloq through the acquisition of Igdrasol, Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Sorrento, which has been developing Cynviloq (paclitaxel nanoparticle polymeric micelle) in a bio-equivalence trial. Dr. Soon-Shiong was the founder of Abraxis BioScience and inventor and developer of the blockbuster drug Abraxane (albumin-bound paclitaxel), currently approved for the treatment of breast, lung, and pancreatic cancers (Filing, 8-K, Sorrento Therapeutics, MAY 15, 2015, View Source [SID:1234504357]). Under the terms of the agreement, Sorrento will receive more than $90 million in an up-front cash payment plus the potential for more than $600 million in regulatory and $600 million in sales milestone payments. Sorrento will also receive additional transfer pricing payments from total unit sales. Furthermore, Sorrento has the option to co-develop and/or co-market Cynviloq on terms to be negotiated.

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"We are extremely pleased with the recent Cynviloq TRIBECA study results and excited that Dr. Patrick Soon-Shiong and his NantPharma team plan to expand Cynviloq into multiple cancer indications, as well as combine it with immunomodulatory antibodies and cell therapies from Sorrento’s pipeline." said Dr. Henry Ji, President and CEO. "This major transaction will enhance Sorrento’s mission of bringing innovative therapies to patients in need quickly and efficiently. It puts our lead program into the hands of a team that has the experience, commitment and resources to develop and launch a major cancer drug. This transaction not only validates our prior Igdrasol acquisition, it also delivers significant financial return, while potentially offering much more in the long run to our shareholders. Moving forward, Sorrento plans to focus on truly innovative immuno-oncology and cellular therapies and position us as the leader in the emerging immunotherapy space."

"Precision cancer medicine will require a multi-faceted treatment approach involving chemotherapy, immunotherapy, adoptive cellular therapy and next-generation precision medicine technologies, including such as genomics and proteomics diagnostics which NantWorks is developing," said Dr. Soon-Shiong. "We are committing significant resources to the development of novel cancer therapies, including combination therapies, an area of significant unmet need. Chemotherapy is an important pillar to the combination with immunotherapy and natural killer cells, and the opportunity to develop combination regimens of low-dose metronomic use of this active drug is an important step in transforming cancer care as we know it today."