Sorrento's COVISTIX COVID-19 Virus Rapid Antigen Detection Test Detects Omicron Variant

(RTTNews) - Sorrento Therapeutics Inc. (SRNE) said that initial testing of COVISTIX on recombinant N proteins demonstrated its ability to detect the Omicron variant, in addition to detecting the original SARS-CoV-2 virus and its other major variants of concerns such as the delta and delta-plus strains. The COVISTIX detection levels were similar for all variants.

The ease of use and timely detection of Omicron infection was demonstrated by a recent case report of a Mexico patient infected with the Omicron variant detected first with COVISTIX in about 15-minutes test time. The result was confirmed a day later by RT-PCR and sequence verified a few days later to be Omicron infection, the company said in a statement.

Sorrento currently has the capacity to produce 30 million COVISTIX tests a month and is currently building up its manufacturing capacity in the US. The company anticipates having a fully automated assembly line capable of producing 6 million COVISTIX units per month up and running in the first-quarter of 2022. Pending US and global demand, the capacity could potentially be increased to over 100 million monthly in 2022.