Sorrento Therapeutics, Inc. announced that it will be presenting preliminary results from an ongoing SARS-CoV-2 mutation surveillance program for its neutralizing antibodies currently in clinical and pre-clinical development for treatment of patients with COVID-19 disease. Disclosed data will provide evidence of maintained binding potency by STI-2020 in vitro assays including the Spike amino acid changes found in SARS-CoV-2 viruses of the B.1.1.7 lineage initially identified in the United Kingdom which has since been detected in ten U.S states. This is highly clinically relevant as it might signify that the STI-2020 antibody currently in clinical trials is not anticipated to behave differently against the new virus variant predicted by the CDC to potentially become the dominant virus variant infecting people in the US as early as March 2021. Sorrento will also provide early in vitro results of diminished STI-2020 binding potency in assays including Spike proteins derived from viruses of the B.1.351 lineage first identified in South Africa, but yet undetected in the United States. Additional neutralizing antibodies were identified that bind strongly to the B.1.1.7 and B.1.351 spike proteins and are under further analyses for neutralization activities both in vitro and in vivo. Upon further validation, the most promising antibody clones will be selected as potential candidates to be added as components of the COVI-SHIELD antibody cocktail as dictated by the continued emergence of mutations in clinical isolates. Sorrento believes it has in place highly potent antibodies against the most recent UK and South Africa viral variants for inclusion in COVI-SHIELD-2021.