Sorrento Therapeutics Analyst Says Coronavirus Antibody Cocktail One Of Few Non-Vaccine Options

Sorrento Therapeutics Inc SRNE shares spiked 158% Friday after the company disclosed that it has identified an antibody that demonstrated 100% inhibition of SARS-CoV-2 virus infection.

The Sorrento Analyst

H.C. Wainwright analyst Raghuram Selvaraju has a Buy rating on Sorrento with a $24 price target.

The Sorrento Thesis

Sorrento has rapidly assembled a constellation of strategies for combating the coronavirus, Selvaraju said in a Monday note. (See his track record here.)

The strategies include:

STI-1499, named COVI-GUARD, which is being evaluated as a standalone antibody therapy aimed at blocking viral entry into host cells.
COVI-SHIELD, a proprietary cocktail of therapeutic antibody, including STI-1499, focused on inhibiting viral infection of healthy host cells.
A proprietary COVIDTRAP ACE2-Fc protein, which binds to the S1 domain of the spike protein of the SARS-CoV-2 virus, thereby blocking the virus from binding and infecting respiratory epithelial cells.
A next-generation, gene-encoded antibody vaccine against COVID-19.
The ACE-MAB fusion protein, which utilizes its STI-4920 antibody and Mabpharm Ltd.'s fusion protein CMAB020 to create a bispecific fusion protein with two functional arms.
STI-6991, an I-Cell COVID-19 vaccine.
A natural killer cell-based immunotherapy approach, named COVI-CELL, to treat critically and severely ill COVID-19 patients.

The analyst said he believes the antibody cocktail therapy would establish a high barrier to development of treatment resistance, while potentially providing protection against infection to at-risk populations, Selvaraju said.

COVI-GUARD and COVI-SHIELD are likely to be used as prophylactic agents for those returning to work and as therapeutic interventions for those recently exposed to SARS-CoV-2, the analyst said.

Each dose of this antibody cocktail therapy will provide antiviral protection for up to two months, he said.

"In the absence of a vaccine, protection using an antibody cocktail may prove to be one of very few viable options."