Why Sorrento Therapeutics Stock Is Ripping Higher Today

What happened Shares of the mid-cap biotech Sorrento Therapeutics (NASDAQ: SRNE) jumped by as much as 20.6% in premarket trading Friday morning. The company's shares are bolting higher in response to the news that its wholly owned subsidiary SmartPharm Therapeutics had landed a $34 million contract from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) to develop a rapid countermeasure against COVID-19.