On Oct. 7, 2020, Sorrento Therapeutics announced that it had discovered a small molecule termed Salicyn-30 that demonstrated a potent 3-4 log reduction of SARS-CoV-2 virus infection in an in vitro virus infection experiment.

Salicyn-30 was planned be developed initially as a stand-alone therapy to potentially reduce viral load in severely affected patients. In parallel, its potential in combination with Sorrento’s antibodies in development to be validated, both for synergistic efficacy but also to ensure that the safety of the combination therapy was established prior to human trials.