Sorrento Therapeutics gets clinical-stage chronic pain drug, along with Sherrington acquisition

Sorrento Therapeutics (OTC QB: SRNE) has acquired fellow USA-based Sherrington Pharmaceuticals, a privately-held company focused on the development of a chronic pain treatment for end-stage cancer patients and other severe pain indications. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Sherrington’s drug candidate, known as resiniferatoxin, is a non-opiate, ultra potent and selective agonist of the TRPV-1 receptor. A single injection of the compound is expected to permanently block the transmission of pain signals without impairing the mental or physical faculties of the patient, common side effects of opiate treatment. Resiniferatoxin was recently highlighted in the July 2013 issue of Scientific American.

Resiniferatoxin is currently in an investigator-sponsored Phase I/II clinical trial at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) under a company sponsored Collaborative Research and Development Agreement (CRADA). Sorrento plans to initiate additional clinical studies to rapidly advance the drug.