OPKO takes 10-fold profit on sale of stake in Sorrento Therapeutics

US drugmaker OPKO Health (NYSE: OPK) says it has completed the sale of its stake in Sorrento Therapeutics (Nasdaq: SRNE), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused primarily on the acquisition, discovery, development and commercialization of proprietary therapeutics.

The sale of the Sorrento shares adds around $22 million to OPKO’s cash position and represents an approximate 10-fold return of OPKO’s 2009 investment, when it bought about a third of the company’s stock. Sorrento’s shares fell nearly 7% to $7.90 on the news.

"The highly successful exit from our investment in Sorrento further crystallizes our strategy of making small investments in other health care companies to either have access to new technology for our product pipeline or to benefit from appreciation in the value of our investment,” said Phillip Frost, chairman and chief executive of OPKO. “Following this sale, our investment portfolio in other health care companies is still far in excess of our cost,” he added.