Sorrento Therapeutics, Inc. (Form: 8-K, Received: 11/08/2021 06:06:07)

UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D.C. 20549

FORM 8-K

CURRENT REPORT

PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d)

OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934

Date of Report (Date of earliest event reported): November 7, 2021

SORRENTO THERAPEUTICS, INC.

(Exact Name of Registrant as Specified in its Charter)

Delaware

001-36150

33-0344842

(State or Other Jurisdiction

of Incorporation)

(Commission

File Number)

(IRS Employer

Identification No.)

4955 Directors Place

San Diego, CA 92121

(Address of Principal Executive Offices) (Zip Code)

Registrant’s telephone number, including area code: (858) 203-4100

N/A

(Former Name, or Former Address, if Changed Since Last Report)

Check the appropriate box below if the Form 8-K filing is intended to simultaneously satisfy the filing obligation of the registrant under any of the following provisions:

¨	Written communications pursuant to Rule 425 under the Securities Act (17 CFR 230.425)

¨	Soliciting material pursuant to Rule 14a-12 under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.14a-12)

¨	Pre-commencement communications pursuant to Rule 14d-2(b) under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.14d-2(b))

¨	Pre-commencement communications pursuant to Rule 13e-4(c) under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.13e-4(c))

Securities Registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act:

Title of each class		Trading Symbol		Name of each exchange on which registered
Common Stock, $0.0001 par value		SRNE		The Nasdaq Stock Market LLC

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is an emerging growth company as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act of 1933 (§230.405 of this chapter) or Rule 12b-2 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (§240.12b-2 of this chapter).

Emerging growth company ¨

If an emerging growth company, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards provided pursuant to Section 13(a) of the Exchange Act. ¨

Item 8.01. Other Events.

On November 7, 2021, Sorrento Therapeutics, Inc. (the “Company”) issued a press release announcing that the California Competes Tax Credit Committee approved the California Competes Tax Credit Allocation Agreement between the Company and the California Governor’s Office of Business and Economic Development (the “Agreement”) pursuant to which the Company has been awarded, subject to the satisfaction of certain milestones specified in the Agreement, an income tax credit from the State of California in an aggregate amount of up to $25.0 million. A copy of the press release is filed herewith as Exhibit 99.1 to this Current Report on Form 8-K and is incorporated herein by reference.

Item 9.01. Financial Statements and Exhibits.

(d) Exhibit.

99.1	Press Release, dated November 7, 2021.
104	Cover Page Interactive Data File, formatted in Inline Extensible Business Reporting Language (iXBRL).

SIGNATURES

Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned hereunto duly authorized.

	SORRENTO THERAPEUTICS, INC.

Date: November 8, 2021	By:	/s/ Henry Ji, Ph.D.
		Name: Henry Ji, Ph.D.
		Title: Chairman of the Board, President and Chief Executive Officer

Exhibit 99.1

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

November 7, 2021

SORRENTO AWARDED CALIFORNIA COMPETES TAX CREDIT

SAN DIEGO, November 7, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Sorrento Therapeutics, Inc. (Nasdaq: SRNE, "Sorrento") today announced that the California Competes Tax Credit Committee has approved the California Competes Tax Credit Allocation Agreement (the “Agreement”) between Sorrento and the California Governor’s Office of Business and Economic Development (“GO-Biz”). Pursuant to the Agreement, Sorrento has been awarded, subject to the satisfaction of certain milestones specified in the Agreement, an income tax credit from the State of California in an aggregate amount of up to $25,000,000. This incentivized credit is expected to support Sorrento’s vision of growth and expansion within the State of California.

"We are grateful to the State of California and GO-Biz for this award," stated Dr. Henry Ji, Chairman and CEO of Sorrento. "As a company founded in San Diego, we are pleased to be in a position to create more high-quality jobs in San Diego’s vibrant life sciences industry and invest in growing our footprint in the community we call home."

Sorrento is expanding its facilities and operations in San Diego, including the addition of a new 163,000 square-foot facility in Sorrento Mesa, also known as Sorrento Gateway.

About Sorrento Therapeutics, Inc.

Sorrento is a clinical and commercial stage biopharmaceutical company developing new therapies to treat cancer, pain (non-opioid treatments), autoimmune disease and COVID-19. Sorrento's multimodal, multipronged approach to fighting cancer is made possible by its extensive immuno-oncology platforms, including key assets such as fully human antibodies (“G-MAB™ library”), immuno-cellular therapies (“DAR-T™”), antibody-drug conjugates (“ADCs”), and oncolytic virus (“Seprehvec™”). Sorrento is also developing potential antiviral therapies and vaccines against coronaviruses, including Abivertinib, COVIGUARD™, COVI-AMG™, COVISHIELD™, COVI-MSC™ and COVIDROPS™; and diagnostic test solutions, including COVITRACK™, COVISTIX™ and COVITRACE™.

Sorrento's commitment to life-enhancing therapies for patients is also demonstrated by our effort to advance a first-in-class (TRPV1 agonist) non-opioid pain management small molecule, resiniferatoxin (“RTX”), and SP-102 (10 mg, dexamethasone sodium phosphate viscous gel) (SEMDEXA™), a novel, viscous gel formulation of a widely used corticosteroid for epidural injections to treat lumbosacral radicular pain, or sciatica, and to commercialize ZTlido® (lidocaine topical system) 1.8% for the treatment of post-herpetic neuralgia. RTX has completed a Phase IB trial for intractable pain associated with cancer and a Phase 1B trial in osteoarthritis patients. SEMDEXA is in a pivotal Phase 3 trial for the treatment of lumbosacral radicular pain, or sciatica. ZTlido® was approved by the FDA on February 28, 2018.

For more information visit www.sorrentotherapeutics.com.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release and any statements made for and during any presentation or meeting contain forward-looking statements related to Sorrento Therapeutics, Inc., under the safe harbor provisions of Section 21E of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected. Forward-looking statements include statements based on current expectations and projections about future events, and are therefore subject to risks and uncertainties which could cause actual results to differ materially from the future results expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements. These statements generally can be identified by the use of forward-looking words such as "may", "should", "will", "could", "intend", "estimate", "plan", "anticipate", "expect", "believe" or "continue", or the negative thereof or similar variations. Risks and uncertainties that could cause our actual results to differ materially and adversely from those expressed in our forward-looking statements, include, but are not limited to: risks related to Sorrento's technologies and prospects; risks related to future performance, including risks and uncertainties that are difficult to predict or are beyond Sorrento’s control, such as the conditions, requirements and utilization of the California Competes Tax Credit; risks related to the global impact of COVID-19; and other risks that are described in Sorrento's most recent periodic reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including Sorrento's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2020, and subsequent Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including the risk factors set forth in those filings. Investors are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date of this release and we undertake no obligation to update any forward-looking statement in this press release except as required by law.

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Media and Investor Relations Contact

Dorman Followwill

Email: mediarelations@sorrentotherapeutics.com

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Sorrento® and the Sorrento logo are registered trademarks of Sorrento Therapeutics, Inc.

G-MAB™, DAR-T™, SOFUSA™, COVIGUARD™, COVI-AMG™, COVISHIELD™, COVIDROPS™, COVI-MSC™, COVITRACK™, COVITRACE™ and COVISTIX™ are trademarks of Sorrento Therapeutics, Inc.

SEMDEXA™ is a trademark of Semnur Pharmaceuticals, Inc.

ZTlido® is a registered trademark owned by Scilex Pharmaceuticals Inc.

All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.