What happened Shares of Sorrento Therapeutics (NASDAQ: SRNE) were up by 10.3% as of 2:02 p.m. EDT Thursday. Although the company hasn't released any news, the increase in new COVID-19 cases in many parts of the world may have investors thinking about the potential for Sorrento's COVI-STIX testing product. Image source: Getty Images. So what That product recently received emergency use authorization (EUA) in Mexico, where daily new diagnoses have risen by 50% in the past month. The company submitted a request to the FDA at the end of last year for authorization for the test's use in the U.S., and is also working toward getting it a green light in Europe. The combination of a faster-spreading SARS-CoV-2 variant of concern and the advent of the summer travel season has also pushed up the number of cases in Europe. The World Health Organization reported Thursday that the seven-day average number of new cases was up 10% in the region. The difficulties that countries on that continent are having with containing the pandemic support the concern that areas of the U.S. with low vaccination rates will also experience intensifying outbreaks. That could spur continued domestic demand for COVID-19 testing products. If a new wave of cases does materialize, companies like Sorrento are likely to get a lot more attention from Wall Street. Now what Sorrento expects the first shipments of COVI-STIX tests to Mexico will be made this month. Investors will have to keep waiting for regulatory action in the U.S. and Europe. 10 stocks we like better than Sorrento TherapeuticsWhen our award-winning analyst team has a stock tip, it can pay to listen. After all, the newsletter they have run for over a decade, Motley Fool Stock Advisor, has tripled the market.* They just revealed what they believe are the ten best stocks for investors to buy right now... and Sorrento Therapeutics wasn't one of them! That's right -- they think these 10 stocks are even better buys. See the 10 stocks *Stock Advisor returns as of June 7, 2021 Jason Hawthorne has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.Source