On August 11, 2021 Sorrento Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ: SRNE; "Sorrento"), a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company developing new therapies to treat cancer, pain and COVID-19, and Dyadic International, Inc. (NASDAQ: DYAI; "Dyadic"), a global biotechnology company focused on further improving, applying and deploying its proprietary C1-cell protein production platform to accelerate development, lower production costs and improve access to biologic vaccines and drugs at flexible commercial scales, reported the signing of a binding term sheet to enter into an exclusive license agreement to develop and commercialize vaccines, therapeutics, and diagnostics for coronaviruses, including Dyadic’s lead COVID-19 vaccine candidate, DYAI-100, produced using Dyadic’s proprietary and patented C1-cell protein production platform (Press release, Sorrento Therapeutics, AUG 11, 2021, View Source [SID1234586308]). The final terms of the license will be set forth in a definitive agreement to be entered into between the parties.

Schedule your 30 min Free 1stOncology Demo!
Discover why more than 1,500 members use 1stOncology™ to excel in:

Early/Late Stage Pipeline Development - Target Scouting - Clinical Biomarkers - Indication Selection & Expansion - BD&L Contacts - Conference Reports - Combinatorial Drug Settings - Companion Diagnostics - Drug Repositioning - First-in-class Analysis - Competitive Analysis - Deals & Licensing

                  Schedule Your 30 min Free Demo!

Sorrento Chairman and CEO, Dr. Henry Ji, commented, "We look forward to continuing our collaboration with Dyadic, which began last year, initially with a goal of developing and commercializing a protein-based COVID-19 vaccine that can be rapidly manufactured in large quantities in our existing cGMP facilities, and stored and transported at room temperature, in order to increase access and affordability to underserved populations globally." Dr Ji. continued, "Over the past six months we have carried out several promising preclinical animal studies using the C1-produced RBD antigen in Dyadic’s lead COVID-19 vaccine candidate, DYAI-100. Our goal is to manufacture a COVID-19 vaccine that will provide protection across the variants of concern, including Delta, and in addition, apply the C1 protein production platform broadly across our current and future coronavirus programs."

Mark Emalfarb, Dyadic’s President and Chief Executive Officer noted, "We are delighted to have executed a binding term sheet with Sorrento Therapeutics to license the C1 technology for the development and commercialization of coronavirus vaccines, therapeutics, and diagnostics, including COVID-19. This marks a significant milestone in our corporate development efforts as we expect the license agreement we will enter into to enable us to monetize our internal COVID-19 development efforts with a partner that has the resources and expertise to advance vaccines, therapeutics, and diagnostics both clinically and commercially."

"The license agreement, when executed, contemplates an up-front payment of $10 million in cash and stock, up to $4 million in reimbursements for preclinical and clinical development costs incurred by Dyadic for the development and advancement of our proprietary DYAI-100 vaccine, up to $33 million in milestone payments and ongoing royalties following commercialization. All future development costs related to this license will be incurred by Sorrento," concluded Mr. Emalfarb.

Mr. Michael Tarnok, Dyadic’s Board Chairman noted, "This is a significant event for Dyadic and humankind globally, having achieved our goal of creating a pathway that potentially addresses the COVID-19 vaccine production gap for mass scale immunizations and treatments across the globe, quickly and efficiently. The Sorrento license will cover all other territories not already covered by Dyadic’s existing COVID-19 agreements with Medytox, Syngene and the Rubic Consortium."