Sorrento Rallies On EUA Filing For Rapid COVID-19 Antibody Test Kit

Sorrento Therapeutics Inc SRNE shares were headed higher Thursday following an announcement concerning its antibody test kit for SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19.

What Happened: Sorrento said it has filed for an Emergency Use Authorization for its in vitro diagnostic test kit, COVI-TRACK, for independent detection of IgG and IgM antibodies in the blood of patients exposed to the virus.

The antibody test is capable of yielding results in 8 minutes or less, according to the company. The test confirms the assay validity by developing three clear lines. 

Upon validation testing, the test demonstrated a specificity greater than 97% and diagnostic sensitivity of greater than 94%, Sorrento said. 

What's Next: If the FDA issues an EUA, the company said the COVI-TRACK test will be available for distribution to clinical testing sites nationwide. The company also said it has secured manufacturing capacity to produce up to 5 million test kits per month.

COVI-TRACK appears to have highly competitive attributes, H.C. Wainwright analyst Raghuram Selvaraju said in a note, citing rapid generation of results and readily interpretable results. The test also has performance metrics above the thresholds set by the FDA, the analyst said. 

SRNE Price Action: At last check, Sorrento shares were advancing 4.96% to $4.76.

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