Sorrento Therapeutics, a clinical stage, antibody-centric, biopharmaceutical company, agreed to merge with ACEA Therapeutics, a clinical-stage, fully-integrated, pharmaceutical company, in a $488m deal. ACEA’s equity holders will receive up to an aggregate of $38m in shares of Sorrento common stock. Sorrento will also pay the ACEA equity holders up to $450m in additional payments, subject to the receipt of certain regulatory approvals and achievement of certain net sales targets. “The ACEA acquisition will bring us a step closer to developing into a major biopharmaceutical company and we look forward to welcoming the ACEA team into the Sorrento family,” Henry Ji, Sorrento Therapeutics Chairman and CEO.