Scilex Holding Company Added to the Preliminary List of the Russell 3000® Index and the Small-Cap Russell 2000® Index as part of the 2023 Russell Indexes Annual Reconstitution in June 2023

PALO ALTO, Calif., May 22, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Scilex Holding Company (Nasdaq: SCLX, “Scilex”), a majority-owned subsidiary of Sorrento Therapeutics, Inc. (OTC: SRNEQ), an innovative revenue-generating company focused on acquiring, developing and commercializing non-opioid pain management products for the treatment of acute and chronic pain, announced today that it has been added to the preliminary list of the Russell 3000^® Index and the Small-Cap Russell 2000^® Index as part of the 35^th Russell indexes annual reconstitution. Preliminary membership lists (reflecting any updates) will be posted to the FTSE Russell website from May 26 – June 16, 2023. The annual reconstitution will be final after the close of market on Friday, June 23, 2023 and will become effective Monday, June 26^th 2023 at the open of the equity markets. This rebalancing process is designed to capture market shifts from the previous year to ensure the Russell U.S. Indexes continue to accurately reflect the US equity market.

Annual reconstitution of Russell’s U.S. indexes captures the 4,000 largest U.S. stocks as of the end of May, ranking them by total market capitalization. The Russell 3000^® Index serves as the U.S. component to the Russell Global Index. Membership in the Russell 3000^® Index, which remains in place for one year, means automatic inclusion in the large-cap Russell 1000^® Index or small-cap Russell 2000 Index as well as the appropriate growth and value style indexes.   The largest 1,000 stocks indexed in the Russell 3000^® Index constitute the Russell 1000^® Index, while the Russell 2000^® Index is a subset of the smallest 2,000 components of the Russell 3000^® Index. As of April 2023, the market capitalization of the Russell 3000^® Index stock holdings was nearly $500 billion.   FTSE Russell determines membership for its equity indexes primarily by objective, market-capitalization rankings and style attributes.

“We are pleased to be included in the Russell 3000^® Index. This milestone highlights our growth as a public company and the inclusion in the index signals the importance of our market position as a global leader in non-opioid pain management and we will continue to execute our strategy to deliver value for our stakeholders,” said Henry Ji, Ph.D., Executive Chairperson of Scilex Holding Company.

“We are very pleased to join the Russell 3000^® Index and see this as an opportunity for Scilex to gain broader visibility among investors who use the Russell indexes to benchmark their portfolios,” said Jaisim Shah, President and Chief Executive Officer of Scilex Holding Company. “As we continue to advance commercialization of our revenue generating opioid sparing pain management assets and further clinical development of our 3 non-opioid pipeline programs, we believe our addition to the Russell indexes will broaden awareness of the innovative advantages of Scilex opioid sparing therapies. We remain committed to leading the next evolution of opioid sparing therapies for the treatment of acute and chronic pain using our proprietary and innovative technology platforms.”

Russell indexes are widely used by investment managers and institutional investors for index funds and as benchmarks for active investment strategies. Approximately $12 trillion in assets are benchmarked against Russell’s U.S. indexes. Russell indexes are part of FTSE Russell, a leading global index provider.   For more information on the Russell 3000^® Index and the Russell indexes reconstitution, go to the “Russell Reconstitution” section on the FTSE Russell website (https://www.ftserussell.com/resources/russell-reconstitution).

About Scilex Holding Company

Scilex Holding Company is an innovative revenue-generating company focused on acquiring, developing and commercializing non-opioid pain management products for the treatment of acute and chronic pain. Scilex is uncompromising in its focus to become the global pain management leader committed to social, environmental, economic, and ethical principles to responsibly develop pharmaceutical products to maximize quality of life. Results from the Phase III Pivotal Trial C.L.E.A.R. Program for SEMDEXA™, its novel, non-opioid product for the treatment of lumbosacral radicular pain (sciatica), were announced in March 2022. Scilex intends to submit a request to the FDA for a type D meeting for purposes of pre-NDA discussion with the FDA. Scilex targets indications with high unmet needs and large market opportunities with non-opioid therapies for the treatment of patients with moderate to severe pain.  Scilex launched its first commercial product ZTlido^® in October 2018, in-licensed a commercial product Gloperba^® in June 2022, and launched its third FDA-approved product Elyxyb™ in April 2023. It is also developing its late-stage pipeline, which includes a pivotal Phase 3 candidate, and one Phase 2 and one Phase 1 candidate.  Its commercial product, ZTlido^® (lidocaine topical system) 1.8%, or ZTlido^®, is a prescription lidocaine topical product approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for the relief of pain associated with post-herpetic neuralgia, which is a form of post-shingles nerve pain.  Scilex in-licensed the exclusive right to commercialize Gloperba^® (colchicine USP) oral solution, an FDA-approved prophylactic treatment for painful gout flares in adults, in the U.S. Scilex in-licensed the exclusive rights to commercialize Elyxyb™ (celecoxib oral solution) in the U.S. and Canada, the only FDA-approved ready-to-use oral solution for the acute treatment of migraine, with or without aura, in adults. Scilex launched Elyxyb™ in April 2023 and is planning to commercialize Gloperba^® in the fourth quarter of 2023 and is well-positioned to market and distribute those products. Scilex’s three product candidates are SP-102 (injectable dexamethasone sodium phosphate viscous gel product containing 10 mg dexamethasone), or SEMDEXA™, a Phase 3, novel, viscous gel formulation of a widely used corticosteroid for epidural injections to treat lumbosacral radicular pain, or sciatica, with FDA Fast Track status; SP-103 (lidocaine topical system) 5.4%, a Phase 2 study, triple-strength formulation of ZTlido^®, for the treatment of acute low back pain, with FDA Fast Track status; and SP-104, 4.5 mg Delayed Burst Release Low Dose Naltrexone Hydrochloride (DBR-LDN) Capsule, for the treatment of chronic pain, fibromyalgia that has completed multiple Phase 1 trial programs and is expected to initiate Phase 2 trials in 2023. For further information regarding the SP-102 Phase 3 efficacy trial, see NCT identifier NCT03372161 – Corticosteroid Lumbar Epidural Analgesia for Radiculopathy – Full Text View – ClinicalTrials.gov.

Scilex Holding Company is headquartered in Palo Alto, California.

About FTSE Russell

FTSE Russell is a global index leader that provides innovative benchmarking, analytics and data solutions for investors worldwide. FTSE Russell calculates thousands of indexes that measure and benchmark markets and asset classes in more than 70 countries, covering 98% of the investable market globally.

FTSE Russell index expertise and products are used extensively by institutional and retail investors globally. Approximately $20 trillion is currently benchmarked to FTSE Russell indexes. For over 30 years, leading asset owners, asset managers, ETF providers and investment banks have chosen FTSE Russell indexes to benchmark their investment performance and create ETFs, structured products and index-based derivatives.

A core set of universal principles guides FTSE Russell index design and management: a transparent rules-based methodology is informed by independent committees of leading market participants. FTSE Russell is focused on applying the highest industry standards in index design and governance and embraces the IOSCO Principles. FTSE Russell is also focused on index innovation and customer partnerships as it seeks to enhance the breadth, depth and reach of its offering.

FTSE Russell is wholly owned by London Stock Exchange Group.

For more information, visit www.ftserussell.com.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release and any statements made for and during any presentation or meeting concerning the matters discussed in this press release contain forward-looking statements related to Scilex and its subsidiaries under the safe harbor provisions of Section 21E of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected. Forward-looking statements include statements regarding Scilex’s anticipated inclusion in the Russell 3000^® Index and the Small-Cap Russell 2000^® Index and its expectations regarding the potential benefits of such inclusion, Scilex’s long-term objectives and commercialization plans, future opportunities for Scilex, Scilex’s future business strategies, Scilex’s current and prospective product candidates, planned clinical trials and preclinical activities and potential product approvals, as well as the potential for market acceptance of any approved products and the related market opportunity; statements regarding ZTlido^®, Gloperba^®, ELYXYB™, SP-102 (SEMDEXA™), SP-103 or SP-104, if approved by the FDA; Scilex’s development and commercialization plans; and Scilex’s products, technologies and prospects.  

Risks and uncertainties that could cause Scilex’s actual results to differ materially and adversely from those expressed in our forward-looking statements, include, but are not limited to: the risk that Scilex is not included, or does not remain, in the Russell 3000^® Index and the Small-Cap Russell 2000^® Index; risks associated with the unpredictability of trading markets and whether a market will be established for Scilex’s common stock; general economic, political and business conditions; risks related to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic; the risk that the potential product candidates that Scilex develops may not progress through clinical development or receive required regulatory approvals within expected timelines or at all; risks relating to uncertainty regarding the regulatory pathway for Scilex’s product candidates; the risk that Scilex will be unable to successfully market or gain market acceptance of its product candidates; the risk that Scilex’s product candidates may not be beneficial to patients or successfully commercialized; the risk that Scilex has overestimated the size of the target patient population, their willingness to try new therapies and the willingness of physicians to prescribe these therapies; risks that the results of the Phase 2 trial for SP-103 or Phase 1 trials for SP-104 may not be successful; risks that the prior results of the clinical trials of SP-102 (SEMDEXA™), SP-103 or SP-104 may not be replicated; regulatory and intellectual property risks; and other risks and uncertainties indicated from time to time and other risks set forth in Scilex’s filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Investors are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date of this release, and Scilex undertakes no obligation to update any forward-looking statement in this press release except as may be required by law.  

Contacts:

Investors and Media
Scilex Holding Company
960 San Antonio Road
Palo Alto, CA 94303
Office: (650) 516-4310

Email: investorrelations@scilexholding.com

Website: www.scilexholding.com

SEMDEXA™ (SP-102) is a trademark owned by Semnur Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Scilex Holding Company. A proprietary name review by the FDA is planned.

ZTlido^® is a registered trademark owned by Scilex Pharmaceuticals Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Scilex Holding Company.

Gloperba^® is the subject of an exclusive, transferable license to use the registered trademark by Scilex Holding Company.

ELYXYB™ is the subject of an exclusive, transferable license to use the trademark by Scilex Holding Company.

All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

© 2023 Scilex Holding Company All Rights Reserved.