Sorrento Therapeutics

What Sorrento Therapeutics does

Sorrento Therapeutics is a publicly traded biopharmaceutical company (NASDAQ: SRNE) headquartered in San Diego, California, that operated a platform-plus-subsidiaries architecture spanning drug therapeutics, drug delivery, and diagnostics. The company was co-founded in 2006 by Henry Ji, who served as Chairman, President, and CEO, and built the portfolio through a sustained acquisition strategy that brought in Scilex Pharmaceuticals (pain management), TNK Therapeutics (T-cell and immune-oncology), Virttu Biologics (oncolytic virus immunotherapy), Sofusa Lymphatic Delivery Systems, ACEA Therapeutics, SmartPharm Therapeutics, and Virex Health.

Sorrento's core diagnostic technology is an electrochemistry-based detection platform developed in collaboration with Boston University and commercialized through the 2022 acquisition of Virex Health. The platform targets at-home, affordable, and scalable detection of viruses and biomarkers, including COVID-19 (via the COVI-STIX rapid test) and cancer. The therapeutic pipeline included STI-1492 for multiple myeloma and a non-opioid pain franchise housed under Scilex.

Revenue mechanics centered on sales of diagnostic hardware (COVI-STIX and Virex-based tests) and any commercialized therapeutics from subsidiaries. Pricing was not publicly disclosed, no end-customer logos or contract values were reported, and the GTM motion was effectively enterprise field sales through subsidiary acquisitions. Disclosed financials across 2018–2022 indicated persistent and widening net losses, no disclosed revenue figure, and the company filed for bankruptcy between 2023 and 2025, leaving the operating status as closed.

Name

Sorrento Therapeutics

Legal name

Sorrento Therapeutics, Inc.

Website

http://www.sorrentotherapeutics.com

Company type

Public

Founded year

2006

Operating status

Closed

Headcount range

101–250 employees

Short description

Sorrento Therapeutics is a San Diego-based biopharmaceutical company that developed therapeutics and at-home electrochemistry-based diagnostics through a network of subsidiaries, before filing for bankruptcy between 2023 and 2025.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Biopharmaceutical Therapeutics

NAICS

Pharmaceutical Preparation Manufacturing (325412), In-Vitro Diagnostic Substance Manufacturing (325413), Research and Development in Biotechnology (except Nanobiotechnology) (541714)

SIC

Pharmaceutical Preparations (2834), In Vitro & In Vivo Diagnostic Substances (2835)

akta.pro primary industry

Oncology Gene Therapies (incl. oncolytic vectors & gene-modified approaches) (HLAAACAF)

akta.pro secondary industries

Immunoassay Diagnostics (ELISA, chemiluminescence, serology) (HLAAALAB), Specialty & Biomarker Laboratory Services (Immunoassays/Flow/Cytometry) (HLAGAEAB)

Keywords

• Biopharmaceutical therapeutics
• Diagnostic test kits
• Pain management drugs
• Immune oncology therapies
• Drug delivery platforms

Headquarters

HQ city

San Diego

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Hardware or Manufacturing

Cost components

Technology or R&D, Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Diagnostic Products: Revenue generated from sale of at-home diagnostic tests for COVID-19 and cancer detection using electrochemistry-based technology

Go-to-market motion1 record

Core offering

Sorrento Therapeutics is a biopharmaceutical company developing proprietary drug therapeutics and diagnostics. Through organic development and a portfolio of acquired subsidiaries, the company sells the COVI-STIX COVID-19 rapid diagnostic test and the Virex Health at-home diagnostic platform, which uses electrochemistry-based technology for sensitive detection of viruses and biomarkers. Its pipeline and subsidiary portfolio span pain management therapeutics (Scilex), immune-oncology (TNK Therapeutics), oncolytic virus immunotherapy (Virttu Biologics), targeted lymphatic drug delivery (Sofusa), and multiple myeloma candidates (STI-1492).

Product overview

Sorrento Therapeutics is a biopharmaceutical company operating with a platform-plus-subsidiaries architecture. The company develops and commercializes novel therapeutics and diagnostics through both organic development and acquired subsidiaries. Core products include COVI-STIX rapid diagnostic tests and the Virex Health at-home diagnostic platform utilizing electrochemistry for virus and biomarker detection. The subsidiary portfolio includes Scilex Pharmaceuticals (pain management), TNK Therapeutics (T-cell/immune-oncology), Virttu Biologics (oncolytic virus immunotherapy), and Sofusa Lymphatic Delivery Systems (targeted drug delivery). Pipeline candidates include STI-1492 for multiple myeloma.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature1 record

Partnerships

Two partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• Boston UniversitycoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 February 2022Boston University collaborated with Virex Health (acquired by Sorrento Therapeutics) to develop an at-home diagnostic platform employing electrochemistry for sensitive detection of viruses and biomarkers. The platform aims to provide affordable, scalable COVID-19 and cancer detection tests.
• Virex HealthcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 February 2022Sorrento Therapeutics completed acquisition of Virex Health on February 1, 2022. Virex developed an at-home diagnostic platform using electrochemistry technology for sensitive detection of viruses and biomarkers.

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Cue Health: At-home molecular diagnostic platform company, directly comparable to Sorrento's Virex Health electrochemistry-based at-home COVID-19 and biomarker detection platform.
• Replimune Group: Oncolytic virus immunotherapy developer for solid tumors, directly comparable to Sorrento's Virttu Biologics subsidiary in modality and indication focus.
• Collegium Pharmaceutical: Specialty pharmaceutical company focused on responsible pain management, directly comparable to Sorrento's Scilex Pharmaceuticals subsidiary in non-opioid pain therapeutics.
• Iovance Biotherapeutics: Leader in tumor-infiltrating lymphocyte (TIL) cell therapy for solid tumors, comparable to Sorrento's TNK Therapeutics subsidiary as a cell therapy oncology platform.
• Atara Biotherapeutics: Clinical-stage allogeneic T-cell therapy company targeting oncology and autoimmune indications, directly comparable to Sorrento's TNK Therapeutics subsidiary in T-cell/immune-oncology focus.

Broad incumbents

• Sarepta Therapeutics: Established gene therapy company with a broader neuromuscular and rare disease focus, comparable to Sorrento's gene-modified and viral vector approaches across TNK and Virttu.
• Blueprint Medicines: Mid-cap precision therapy company with kinase inhibitor and oncology pipeline, comparable to Sorrento in targeted oncology pipeline strategy and Cambridge/Boston-area biotech ecosystem overlap.

Emerging players

• Tiziana Life Sciences: Small-cap clinical-stage biotech developing immunology and oncology candidates, comparable to Sorrento in pipeline breadth, capital constraints, and reliance on partnership-driven development.
• Tonix Pharmaceuticals: Small-cap specialty biopharma with assets across pain, neurology, and immunology, comparable to Sorrento in therapeutic area diversification and similar scale/market-cap profile.
• Tarsus Pharmaceuticals: Specialty pharmaceutical company that took a single-asset program to commercialization, providing a comparable small-cap commercial-stage reference for Sorrento's Scilex subsidiary trajectory.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights5 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/490527697785828
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/sorrento-therapeutics-inc.

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles3 records

Subsidiaries2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds8 records

Investors3 records

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A6 records

Investments5 records

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Sorrento Therapeutics