NantWorks ecosystem of companies member NantPharma has agreed to acquire a wholly owned subsidiary of Sorrento, Igdrasol, in a deal worth $1.3bn.

The deal will allow NantWorks to acquire the rights of Cynviloq (paclitaxel nanoparticle polymeric micelle) that is being developed by Igdrasol in a bio-equivalence trial.

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Under the agreement, Sorrento will secure more than $90m up-front in cash from NantPharma, as well as $600m each in regulatory and sales milestone payments.

"Precision cancer medicine will require a multi-faceted treatment approach involving chemotherapy, immunotherapy, adoptive cellular therapy and next-generation precision medicine technologies, including such as genomics and proteomics diagnostics, which NantWorks is developing."

In addition, Sorrento will be eligible to receive additional transfer pricing payments from total unit sales and has the option to co-develop and co-market Cynviloq.

Sorrento Therapeutics president and CEO Dr Henry Ji said: "We are extremely pleased with the recent Cynviloq TRIBECA study results and excited that Dr Patrick Soon-Shiong and his NantPharma team plan to expand Cynviloq into multiple cancer indications, as well as combine it with immunomodulatory antibodies and cell therapies from Sorrento’s pipeline."

Dr Patrick Soon-Shiong founded NantPharma and Abraxis BioScience. He was the inventor and developer of the blockbuster drug Abraxane (albumin-bound paclitaxel), which is currently approved to treat breast, lung and pancreatic cancers.

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Soon-Shiong said: "Precision cancer medicine will require a multi-faceted treatment approach involving chemotherapy, immunotherapy, adoptive cellular therapy and next-generation precision medicine technologies, including such as genomics and proteomics diagnostics, which NantWorks is developing."

Sorrento is an oncology firm that develops new treatments for cancer and associated pain, while NantWorks is an umbrealla organisation that includes NantHealth, NantMobile, NantMedia, NantOmics, NantBioScience, NantCell, NantPharma, NantCapital and NantCloud.

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