The Sofusa news is extremely important. K...... did a good job explaining how Sofusa works.
"So just how big is today's news about the initial success of the Sofusa technology?
1st, this is a technology that aims at lymphatic delivery.
What does this mean? Well, when trying to fight a disease, it's difficult to target the lymphatic system. Because of how it works and the fact that it is spread throughout our body.
So there are MANY, MANY drugs out there that treat several conditions through the lymphatic system. But, because of what we just explained, those drugs sometimes don't work. They are not properly "delivered". They don't get to where they need to get to make the necessary interaction and solve the problem.
Sorrento has developed a technology that can deliver drugs to where they actually need to go in the lymphatic system. So this is definitely breakthrough technology. Other companies are aiming to find similar solutions. But we are definitely talking about very advanced bio-tech.
In this case, we have a patient suffering from rheumatoid arthritis. This is a condition that worsens with time. It's very painful and limits the patient's movement. It's not very common, so we are talking about 1.5 million people in the USA and about 30 million worldwide.
But remember, the technology Sorrento is developing will be able to deliver drugs treating many other diseases related to the lymphatic system. So the market for Sofusa is very, very large.
The press release tells us Sofusa was tested on "First Enbrel-Non-Responding" patients. What does this mean?
Patients who need the drug Enbrel and, even though they have not been taking the drug for long (it's a "first" for them) they are not responding to it. It isn't helping them.
Now, Sofusa comes into play. It's job is to deliver Enbrel to the patient effectively. To "take" Enbrel to where it needs to go in the lymphatic system..
The 1st obvious advantage is that the drug wasn't helping and now helps. But there are other important advantages.
Since the drug is being carried to its targeted "destination" the dosage needed, diminishes. Because less is "lost along the way". This is important because many diseases related to the lymphatic system, such as rheumatoid arthritis, are chronic, lifelong conditions. Being able to administer less drugs really helps the patient. Now you have a drug that actually works, more potently, which reduces its dosage. All this thanks to Sorrento.
The press release points out an important factor: This is a trial on ONE type of drug/treatment. Other such trials testing the effectiveness of Sofusa are already taking place. Again, this is proof of the potentially huge market for this delivery system.
Just to get an idea, the release mentions anti-PD1 and anti-CTLA4 antibodies. These are a type of drugs that inhibit the activity of certain proteins (they inhibit PD1 and CTLA4, which are types of proteins. By stopping their activity, they help in stopping the growth of cancer tumors). There are several drugs that fall under these categories and treat a wide variety of cancers. Sofusa can potentially play a vital role in all these treatments.
This is like several companies developing apps while Sorrento is developing a new smartphone technology. Each app has its rightful use and market. But once the new smartphone is up and working, all apps will need it. So this technology has huge revenue implications. The fact we are hearing good news about it is HUGE.
As for the results themselves: The DAS28 test measures rheumatoid activity in 28 joints in the patient's body. The joints might be swollen or tender (hurting).
This patient had a DAS28 score of 4.6, with 18 out of 28 joints compromised. That is considered moderate to high disease activity. There are 4 levels of DAS 28 scores going from remission (the best) to high (the worst). So this patient was not in the worst shape going in, but pretty bad.
Using Sofusa to deliver the Enbrel drug, in just 4 weeks (this is a very short time for this type of disease!!) the results went from 4.6 to 3.0. The total amount of compromised joints, from 18 to 11. That is a dramatic change. The patient went from being somewhere between level 3 and 4, to being in the lower level 2, called "low disease activity", which indicates it's moving towards remission (the lowest level). For someone suffering from this condition, it's a real life changer. For the company selling Enbrel, it's a real market changer. And if it can equally help people with tumors, Sofusa becomes a major therapeutic factor.
I hope investors understand this. It's another major development in an already extremely promising pipeline which is currently badly undervalued. If the price doesn't spike today by 10-15%, as it should, just from this news, it would be disappointing.
But if you are long, today's price change isn't what matters the most. It’s the understanding that Sorrento / SRNE has ANOTHER ace in its hand!"
"The refusal of the real is the number one dogma of our time" Rene Girard
