UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D.C. 20549

FORM 8-K 

CURRENT REPORT

PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d)

OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934

Date of Report (Date of earliest event reported): September 12, 2017

SORRENTO THERAPEUTICS, INC.

(Exact Name of Registrant as Specified in its Charter)

4955 Directors Place

San Diego, CA 92121

(Address of Principal Executive Offices) (Zip Code)

Registrant’s telephone number, including area code: (858) 203-4100

N/A

(Former Name, or Former Address, if Changed Since Last Report)

Check the appropriate box below if the Form 8-K filing is intended to simultaneously satisfy the filing obligation of the registrant under any of the following provisions:

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is an emerging growth company as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act of 1933 (§230.405 of this chapter) or Rule 12b-2 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (§240.12b-2 of this chapter).

Emerging growth company  ¨

If an emerging growth company, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards provided pursuant to Section 13(a) of the Exchange Act.  ¨ 

On September 12, 2017, Sorrento Therapeutics, Inc. (the “Company”) issued a press release announcing that Scilex Pharmaceuticals Inc., a majority-owned subsidiary of the Company, has received from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (the “FDA”) acknowledgement of receipt of its recently resubmitted new drug application submission (the “NDA”) for its lead product candidate, ZTlido^TM (lidocaine patch 1.8%), which has been considered a complete, class 2 response to the prior action letter. In the press release, the Company also announced that the Prescription Drug User Fee Act goal date for completion of the FDA’s review of the NDA has been set for February 28, 2018, which is the standard six-month review period for a class 2 response. A copy of the press release is furnished herewith as Exhibit 99.1 to this Current Report on Form 8-K.

The information contained in this Item 7.01 and Exhibit 99.1 furnished as part of Item 9.01 of this Current Report on Form 8-K is being furnished and shall not be deemed “filed” for the purposes of Section 18 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”), or otherwise subject to the liabilities of that section, nor shall it be deemed incorporated by reference into any registration statement or other filing under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, or the Exchange Act, except as shall be expressly set forth by specific reference to such filing.

SIGNATURES

Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned hereunto duly authorized.