Sorrento Therapeutics of San Diego said Friday that an antibody it has been developing proved highly effective in blocking the novel coronavirus in laboratory experiments — a possible first step in the creation of a drug cocktail to battle COVID-19.

The antibody, known as STI-1499, performed well even though it was used at a concentration 10- to 100-fold lower than antibodies used to treat other diseases, the company said.

STI-1499 is one of more than a billion antibodies that Sorrento Therapeutics has been examining in an effort to find an effective treatment against a virus that has killed more than 85,000 people in the U.S.

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