UNITED STATES
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington, DC 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): August 15, 2016
SORRENTO THERAPEUTICS, INC.
(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)
Delaware | 001-36150 | 33-0344842 | ||
(State or other jurisdiction | (Commission | (IRS Employer | ||
of incorporation or organization) | File Number) | Identification No.) |
9380 Judicial Drive
San Diego, CA 92121
(Address of principal executive offices)
Registrants telephone number, including area code: (858) 210-3700
(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 communication 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)) |
Item 8.01 | Other Events. |
On August 15, 2016, Sorrento Therapeutics, Inc. announced that Dr. Jerome Zeldis, M.D., PhD., former Chief Medical Officer of Celgene Corporation, has been appointed to the position of Chief Medical Officer and President of Clinical Development. A copy of the press release is attached as Exhibit 99.1 and incorporated herein by reference.
Item 9.01 | Financial Statements and Exhibits. |
(d) | Exhibits. |
99.1 | Press release dated August 15, 2016 |
SIGNATURE
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.
Dated: August 15, 2016
SORRENTO THERAPEUTICS, INC. | ||
By: | /s/ Henry Ji | |
Name: Henry Ji | ||
Title: President and Chief Executive Officer |
Exhibit 99.1
Dr. Jerome Zeldis, M.D., Ph.D., former Chief Medical Officer of Celgene, to Join Sorrento as Chief Medical Officer and President of Clinical Development
SAN DIEGO, Aug. 15, 2016 /PRNewswire/ Sorrento Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ: SRNE; Sorrento), an antibody-centric, clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company developing new treatments for cancer, pain management, inflammation and autoimmune diseases, today announced that Dr. Jerome Zeldis, M.D., Ph.D., former Chief Medical Officer of Celgene Corporation (NASDAQ: CELG; Celgene), has been appointed to the position of Chief Medical Officer and President of Clinical Development.
Dr. Jerome (Jerry) Zeldis joins Sorrento after a nearly 20-year career at Celgene during which he was instrumental in growing Celgene into one of the leading global biopharmaceutical companies. Most recently, Dr. Zeldis held the position of Chief Executive Officer of Celgene Global Health and Chief Medical Officer of Celgene. In that capacity, Dr. Zeldis oversaw clinical trials using Celgenes molecules. Prior to Celgene, Dr. Zeldis was the Associate Director of Clinical Research at Sandoz Research Institute and the Director of Medical Development at Janssen Pharmaceutical Research Institute.
Dr. Zeldis received his medical training in Internal Medicine at the UCLA Center for the Health Sciences and was a clinical and research fellow in gastroenterology at Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School. Additionally, he served as an Assistant Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School, an Associate Professor of Medicine at the University of California, a Clinical Associate Professor of Medicine at Cornell Medical School, and a Professor of Clinical Medicine at the Robert Wood Johnson Medical School in New Brunswick, NJ. Dr. Zeldis holds BA and MS degrees from Brown University, and M.Phil., M.D., and Ph.D. degrees from Yale University. Dr. Zeldis has published 122 peer-reviewed articles and is a named inventor on 43 US patents. He currently serves as Chairman of the board of Alliqua, Semorex, and Trek Therapeutics, Vice Chairman of MetaStat and serves on the boards of Kalytera Therapeutics, BioSig Technologies, IR Biosciences Holdings, PTC Therapeutics, and Soligenix.
We are thrilled to have a highly accomplished biotech veteran of Jerrys stature join Sorrento to guide, drive and accelerate our clinical development, said Dr. Henry Ji, President & CEO of Sorrento. His expertise and track record in highly successful drug development will be invaluable to progress the clinical development of our program pipeline towards FDA approval and commercialization. Jerrys appointment highlights our focus on investing in clinical development and our steadfast commitment to Sorrento shareholders following the recent $150 million private placement led by Ally Bridge Group completed in June of this year.
Dr. Zeldis stated, Sorrento has an impressive portfolio of unique assets that I believe will clearly differentiate themselves in addressing unmet medical needs in a multitude of markets. I greatly look forward to joining the team that is growing Sorrento into a leading biopharmaceutical company and using my experience to build a world-class clinical and regulatory organization for the efficient, high-quality clinical development of Sorrentos cutting-edge immunotherapies.
About Sorrento Therapeutics, Inc.
Sorrento is an antibody-centric, clinical stage biopharmaceutical company developing new treatments for cancer, pain management, inflammation and autoimmune diseases. Sorrentos lead products are late-stage biosimilar and biobetter antibodies, RTX for intractable cancer pain, as well as clinical CAR-T and CAR-NK therapies targeting solid tumors.
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. and its subsidiaries under the safe harbor provisions of Section 21E of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected. Forward-looking statements include statements regarding the expectations for Sorrentos and its subsidiaries technologies and collaborations; Sorrentos ability to leverage the expertise of its employees and partners to assist the company in the execution of its strategies; and Sorrentos prospects. 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 Sorrentos and its subsidiaries technologies and prospects; risks related to seeking regulatory approvals and conducting clinical trials; and other risks that are described in Sorrentos most recent periodic reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including Sorrentos Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2015, as amended, 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.
Sorrento® and the Sorrento logo are registered trademarks of Sorrento Therapeutics, Inc.
All other trademarks and trade names are the property of their respective owners.
© 2016 Sorrento Therapeutics, Inc. All Rights Reserved.