TNK Therapeutics, Inc., a subsidiary of Sorrento Therapeutics, Inc., has entered an agreement to acquire Virttu Biologics Ltd.,a privately-held biopharma company focused on developing oncolytic virus therapies to treat cancer. Virttu’s lead product candidate Seprehvir (HSV1716) is a Herpes Simplex Virus (HSV)-based oncolytic virus that selectively kills cancer cells and elicits an anti-tumor immune response. The oncolytic virus technologies have the potential for broad therapeutic application across various cancer indications as well as being synergistic with immunotherapy portfolios of TNK and Sorrento.
 
Virttu equity holders will receive $5 million of Sorrento stock at closing and an additional $20 million in TNK stock within 12 months after closing. The acquisition is subject to customary closing conditions.

Seprehvir has completed Phase I studies for treatment of solid tumors, including glioma as well as head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC). It is also being evaluated in a Phase I/IIa study for treatment of mesothelioma using regional (intrapleural) delivery of Seprehvir and in a Phase I study as therapy for non-CNS malignancies in pediatric patients using intravenous infusion of Seprehvir.

“With the acquisition of Virttu, we will add a clinical-stage oncolytic virus therapy to our armamentarium of immunotherapies. The Virttu team has done a tremendous job of advancing Seprehvir into clinical trials for treatment of adult cancer and pediatric malignancies. In addition to the conventional intratumoral injection route that the marketed HSV-based oncolytic virus therapy utilizes, the Seprehvir can be administered via i.v. infusion for treatment of both local and metastatic cancers due to absence of inherent neurotoxicity in contrast to other HSV-based oncolytic viruses.” said Dr. Henry Ji, president and chief executive officer of Sorrento. 

“We are excited to join the Sorrento/TNK team and together accelerate the development of Seprehvir. Sorrento’s antibody-centric therapies and TNK’s CAR-T and CAR.NK programs are a perfect match with our oncolytic virus as our preclinical research has shown significant synergy between Seprehvir and CAR-T therapies as well as with immune checkpoint antibodies. Our Seprehvec platform technology will allow for the development of next generation oncolytic virus programs, such as expression of Sorrento’s immune checkpoint antibodies at the tumor site or pro-inflammatory cytokines for enhanced tumor killing and immune activation, by incorporating these genes into the Seprehvir genome,” said Dr. Joe Conner, chief scientific officer of Virttu.