Kura Oncology and Kyowa Kirin Report Positive Pivotal Ziftomenib Monotherapy Data at 2025 ASCO Annual Meeting

On June 2, 2025 Kura Oncology, Inc. (Nasdaq: KURA, "Kura") and Kyowa Kirin Co., Ltd. (TSE: 4151, "Kyowa Kirin") reported the presentation of positive pivotal results from the KOMET-001 Phase 2 registration-directed trial of ziftomenib, a once-daily, oral investigational menin inhibitor, in patients with relapsed/refractory (R/R) NPM1-mutant (NPM1-m) acute myeloid leukemia (AML) in an oral session today at the 2025 American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) (Free ASCO Whitepaper) Annual Meeting being held in Chicago, IL from May 30 – June 3, 2025 (Press release, Kura Oncology, JUN 2, 2025, View Source [SID1234653614]).

Schedule your 30 min Free 1stOncology Demo!
Discover why more than 1,500 members use 1stOncology™ to excel in:

Early/Late Stage Pipeline Development - Target Scouting - Clinical Biomarkers - Indication Selection & Expansion - BD&L Contacts - Conference Reports - Combinatorial Drug Settings - Companion Diagnostics - Drug Repositioning - First-in-class Analysis - Competitive Analysis - Deals & Licensing

                  Schedule Your 30 min Free Demo!

"We are delighted to announce positive pivotal data from the KOMET-001 trial in R/R NPM1-mutated AML patients treated with ziftomenib," said Troy Wilson, Ph.D., J.D., President and Chief Executive Officer of Kura Oncology. "NPM1 mutations are among the most common in AML, representing approximately 30% of cases, and there are no FDA-approved therapies specifically for this patient population. With these encouraging results and a PDUFA target action date of November 30, 2025, we and our partners at Kyowa Kirin look forward to supporting FDA with its review of the ziftomenib New Drug Application (NDA) and are well-positioned to meaningfully impact relapsed or refractory patients with NPM1 mutations."

"Relapsed or refractory NPM1-mutated AML is a highly challenging disease with a poor prognosis and an urgent need for new treatments," said Eunice Wang, M.D., Chief of Leukemia Service, Professor of Oncology, Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center, Buffalo, NY. "The promising results for ziftomenib in this heavily pretreated population are highly encouraging. Notably, the clinically meaningful minimal residual disease (MRD)-negative responses observed as well as the similar response rates seen regardless of prior therapies, including hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) and venetoclax, hold great promise for the potential use of ziftomenib in patients with relapsed and refractory NPM1-mutated AML."

The KOMET-001 Phase 2 population included 92 adult patients with R/R NPM1-m AML. The median age was 69 (range: 33 to 84). Patients were heavily pretreated, with 33% having received three or more prior lines of therapy (median prior lines: 2) and 59% having been previously treated with venetoclax.

A complete remission (CR) plus CR with partial hematological recovery (CRh) rate of 23% (21/92) was observed among patients with R/R NPM1-m AML in the Phase 2 portion of the KOMET-001 trial. Among those 21 patients who achieved CR/CRh, 13 had a CR and 8 had a CRh. The median duration of CR/CRh responses was 3.7 months (95% CI: 1.9, not estimable (NE)) and the restricted mean duration of response was 4.3 months (95% CI: 3.1, 5.6) at the time of the data cutoff. MRD status was assessed in 19 of 21 patients who achieved CR/CRh, and 63% (12/19) of these patients were MRD-negative.

Comparable CR/CRh rates were observed across pre-specified subgroups, regardless of prior HSCT, prior venetoclax or FLT3/IDH co-mutations. Additional patient benefit beyond CR/CRh was observed with a rate of transfusion conversion of 21% (17/82; 95% CI: 13-31) and a rate of maintenance of transfusion independence of 20% (2/10; 95% CI: 3-56). A median OS of 16.4 months (95% CI, 9.6–20.4) was observed for responders (patients who achieved CR, CRh, CRi/CRp, MLFS or PR) and a median overall survival (OS) of 3.5 months (95% CI, 2.5–4.0) was observed among non-responders.

The safety population included 112 adult patients with R/R NPM1-m AML from the pooled Phase 1b and Phase 2 portions of the KOMET-001 trial. The safety profile observed with ziftomenib in this population was consistent with previously reported data. Treatment-related adverse events (TRAEs) led to treatment discontinuations in 3% of patients. TRAEs of Grade ≥3 which occurred in more than 10% of patients were limited to differentiation syndrome (DS, 13%), which was well managed by protocol-specified mitigation strategies and no Grade 4/5 treatment-related DS was observed. Although QTc prolongation (1 Gr2; 2 Gr3) was reported in three patients per investigator assessment, all three patients were on concomitant medications associated with QTc prolongation, two had electrolyte abnormalities and one had a prior diagnosis of atrial fibrillation.

"Beyond ziftomenib’s clinical activity, we are highly encouraged by its consistent safety and tolerability profile," said Mollie Leoni, MD, Chief Medical Officer of Kura Oncology. "Notably, the low rate of myelosuppression, low discontinuation rate, lack of clinically significant QTc prolongation, absence of drug-drug interactions, and effective management of differentiation syndrome underscore ziftomenib’s potentially favorable benefit-risk profile for patients with relapsed or refractory NPM1-mutated AML."

"The data presented at ASCO (Free ASCO Whitepaper) strengthen our conviction that ziftomenib has potential to become a meaningful treatment option for patients with relapsed or refractory AML with NPM1 mutations — patients who often face limited treatment options and significant uncertainty regarding their prognosis," said Takeyoshi Yamashita, Ph.D., Executive Vice President and Chief Medical Officer of Kyowa Kirin. "Encouraged by the favorable safety, tolerability, and promising clinical activity observed thus far, Kyowa Kirin, in collaboration with Kura, is working with urgency and purpose to bring ziftomenib monotherapy to patients as swiftly and responsibly as possible."

Virtual Investor Event

Kura will host a virtual investor event featuring company management and investigators from the KOMET-001 trial of ziftomenib in R/R NPM1-m AML at 7:30pm ET / 4:30pm PT on Monday, June 2, 2025. Those who would like to participate may access the live webcast here, or register in advance for the teleconference here.The event can also be accessed on the Investors section of Kura’s website at www.kuraoncology.com. An archived replay will be available shortly after the conclusion of the live event.

The Journal of Clinical Oncology Publishes Five-year Analysis of Amtagvi® (lifileucel) in Patients with Advanced Melanoma

On June 2, 2025 Iovance Biotherapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ: IOVA), a commercial biotechnology company focused on innovating, developing, and delivering novel polyclonal tumor infiltrating lymphocyte (TIL) therapies for patients with cancer, reported that the Journal of Clinical Oncology has published the final analysis from the Phase 2 C-144-01 clinical trial evaluating the individualized T cell therapy Amtagvi (lifileucel) in patients with advanced melanoma (Press release, Iovance Biotherapeutics, JUN 2, 2025, View Source [SID1234653613]). These five-year follow-up results are being simultaneously presented during an oral session today at the 2025 American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) (Free ASCO Whitepaper) Annual Meeting.

Schedule your 30 min Free 1stOncology Demo!
Discover why more than 1,500 members use 1stOncology™ to excel in:

Early/Late Stage Pipeline Development - Target Scouting - Clinical Biomarkers - Indication Selection & Expansion - BD&L Contacts - Conference Reports - Combinatorial Drug Settings - Companion Diagnostics - Drug Repositioning - First-in-class Analysis - Competitive Analysis - Deals & Licensing

                  Schedule Your 30 min Free Demo!

This five-year analysis of the C-144-01 trial represents unprecedented durability and duration of follow-up in advanced melanoma patients previously treated with anti-PD-1 and targeted therapy, where applicable. The analysis includes 153 patients from cohorts 2 and 4 of the C-144-01 trial.

One-time Amtagvi treatment demonstrated long-term benefit in heavily pretreated patients, including deep and durable responses, meaningful overall survival without further treatment, and no new or late-onset adverse events at a median follow-up of 57.8 months. The objective response rate was 31.4% with a median time to response of 1.4 months and a median duration of response of 36.5 months. Nearly one third of responders (31.3%) completed the five-year assessment with ongoing responses. The median overall survival (mOS) was 13.9 months with a five-year survival rate of 19.7%. Survival outcomes were consistent among responders, regardless of time of onset of response to Amtagvi therapy.

The observed safety profile was consistent with that of nonmyeloablative lymphodepletion and interleukin-2 administration. The incidence of AEs decreased rapidly within the first two weeks after Amtagvi infusion, and there were no new or late-onset treatment-related AEs.

Theresa Medina, M.D., medical oncologist at the University of Colorado Cancer Center on the Anschutz Medical Campus, stated, "Amtagvi has demonstrated long-term benefit and meaningful overall survival in a difficult-to-treat melanoma patient population resistant to immune checkpoint inhibitor therapy. Five years following one-time Amtagvi treatment, responses persisted or deepened during an extended treatment-free interval for some patients. Amtagvi offers a new standard of care for the advanced melanoma community and sets a new bar for one-time cell therapies with curative intent in solid tumors."

In February 2024, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration granted accelerated approval to Amtagvi for the treatment of adult patients with unresectable or metastatic melanoma previously treated with a PD-1 blocking antibody, and if BRAF V600 mutation positive, a BRAF inhibitor with or without a MEK inhibitor. The approval was based on overall response rate and duration of response from the C-144-01 clinical trial. With this approval, Amtagvi became the first one-time T cell therapy for a solid tumor cancer as well as the first approved treatment option for patients with advanced melanoma after anti-PD-1 and targeted therapy. Iovance is also conducting TILVANCE-301, a Phase 3 trial in frontline advanced melanoma to confirm clinical benefit.

About the C-144-01 Clinical Trial

C-144-01 is a global, multicenter Phase 2 study in which patients received treatment with lifileucel. The study enrolled patients with metastatic melanoma who were previously treated with at least one systemic therapy, including a PD-1 blocking antibody, and if BRAF V600 mutation positive, a BRAF inhibitor or BRAF inhibitor with MEK inhibitor. Efficacy was established on the basis of objective response rate (ORR) and duration of response (DOR) by Independent Review Committee (IRC) per Response Evaluation Criteria in Solid Tumors (RECIST) version 1.1. The pivotal Cohort 4 and supportive Cohort 2 of Study C-144-01 enrolled patients that met the same primary eligibility criteria, had the same assessments, and had received the same regimen and AMTAGVI that was produced using the same manufacturing process, and product formulation. The final five-year analysis of C-144-01 was published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology in 2025.

About Amtagvi

AMTAGVI is a prescription medicine used to treat adults with a type of skin cancer that cannot be removed surgically or has spread to other parts of the body called unresectable or metastatic melanoma.

AMTAGVI is used when your melanoma has not responded or stopped responding to a PD-1 blocking drug either by itself or in a combination, and if your cancer is BRAF mutation positive, a BRAF inhibitor drug with or without a MEK inhibitor drug that has also stopped working.

The approval of AMTAGVI is based on a study that measured response rate. Continued approval for this use may depend on the results of an ongoing study to confirm benefit.

Important Safety Information

What is the most important information that I should know about AMTAGVI?

You will likely be in a hospital prior to and after receiving AMTAGVI.

Before taking AMTAGVI, tell your healthcare provider about all of your medical conditions, including if you:

Have any lung, heart, liver or kidney problems
Have low blood pressure
Have a recent or active infection or other inflammatory conditions including cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection, hepatitis B or C or human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection
Are pregnant, think you may be pregnant, or plan to become pregnant
Are breastfeeding
Notice the symptoms of your cancer are getting worse
Have had a vaccination in the past 28 days or plan to have one in the next few months
Have been taking a blood thinner
Tell your doctor about all the medications you take, including prescription and over-the-counter medicines, vitamins, and herbal supplements.

How will I receive AMTAGVI?

AMTAGVI is made from your surgically removed tumor. Tumor derived T cells are grown in a manufacturing center at the end of which they number in the billions of cells.
Your tumor tissue is sent to a manufacturing center to make AMTAGVI. It takes about 34 days from the time your tumor tissue is received at the manufacturing center until AMTAGVI is available to be shipped back to your healthcare provider, but the time may vary. Your AMTAGVI will be provided in 1-4 patient-specific infusion bag(s) containing 100 mL to 125 mL of viable (alive) cells per bag.
After your AMTAGVI arrives at your treating institution, your healthcare provider will give you lymphodepleting chemotherapy to prepare your body.
Approximately 30 to 60 minutes before you are given AMTAGVI, you may be given other medicines including:
Medicines for an allergic reaction (anti-histamines)
Medicines for fever (such as acetaminophen)
Your AMTAGVI will be provided in 1 to 4 infusion bag(s) containing 100 mL to 125 mL of viable cells per bag. When your body is ready for AMTAGVI infusion, your healthcare provider will give AMTAGVI to you by intravenous infusion. This usually takes less than 90 minutes.
After getting AMTAGVI

Beginning 3 to 24 hours after AMTAGVI is given, you may be given up to 6 doses of IL-2 (aldesleukin) every 8 to 12 hours via intravenous infusion. Your doctor may discontinue IL-2 (aldesleukin) infusion any time if you have severe side effects.

You will have to stay in the hospital until you have completed the IL-2 (aldesleukin) treatment and you have recovered from any serious side effects associated with the AMTAGVI treatment.

You should plan to stay within 2 hours of the location where you received your treatment for several weeks after getting AMTAGVI. Your healthcare provider will check to see if your treatment is working and help you with any side effects that occur.

What are the possible side effects of AMTAGVI?

The most common side effects of the AMTAGVI treatment include chills, fever, low white blood cell count (may increase risk of infections), fatigue, low red blood cell count (may cause you to feel tired or weak), fast or irregular heartbeat, rash, low blood pressure, and diarrhea.

These are not all the possible side effects of the AMTAGVI treatment. Talk with your healthcare provider for more information about AMTAGVI. You can ask your healthcare provider for information about AMTAGVI that is written for healthcare professionals.

You may report side effects to Iovance at 1-833-400-4682, or to the FDA, at 1-800-FDA-1088 or at www.fda.gov/medwatch.

Please see Full Prescribing Information and Patient Information, including Boxed Warning, for additional Important Safety Information.

IN8bio Presents Positive Phase 1 Data of INB-200 in Newly Diagnosed GBM Demonstrating Prolonged Progression-Free Survival

On June 2, 2025 IN8bio, Inc. (Nasdaq: INAB), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company developing innovative gamma-delta (γδ) T cell therapies for cancer and autoimmune diseases, reported new long-term clinical data from its fully enrolled Phase 1 trial of INB-200 in patients with newly diagnosed glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) (Press release, In8bio, JUN 2, 2025, View Source [SID1234653611]). The data were presented in an oral session on May 30th at the 2025 American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) (Free ASCO Whitepaper) Annual Meeting.

Schedule your 30 min Free 1stOncology Demo!
Discover why more than 1,500 members use 1stOncology™ to excel in:

Early/Late Stage Pipeline Development - Target Scouting - Clinical Biomarkers - Indication Selection & Expansion - BD&L Contacts - Conference Reports - Combinatorial Drug Settings - Companion Diagnostics - Drug Repositioning - First-in-class Analysis - Competitive Analysis - Deals & Licensing

                  Schedule Your 30 min Free Demo!

"Half of the patients who received multiple doses remained progression free for greater than a year and a half, demonstrating functional recoveries, with several patients also having the ability to return to work. No new relapses have been reported since the last clinical update in October 2024" stated Burt Nabors, M.D., Division Director, Neuro-Oncology at the Heersink School of Medicine at the University of Alabama at Birmingham and Principal Investigator of the study. "These early data highlight the potential of repeated intracranial dosing of IN8bio’s gamma-delta T cells to extend mPFS in GBM, including in patients with chemotherapy-resistant tumors."

The Phase 1 results of INB-200 demonstrate that repeated dosing of IN8bio’s proprietary Drug Resistant Immunotherapy (DRI) – which utilizes genetically modified gamma-delta T cells delivered directly into the brain – in combination with SOC maintenance chemotherapy (temozolomide), led to an mPFS of 16.1 months. This represents an improvement of more than double (+9.2 months or +132.6%) the historical mPFS of 6.9 months under the SOC Stupp protocol. These mPFS results have already surpassed the historical mOS of 14.6 months associated with the SOC Stupp protocol alone. By comparison, a 2 to 3 month improvement in mPFS has historically been considered as clinically significant and the bar for approval by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

Importantly, no dose-limiting toxicities (DLTs), CRS, or ICANS have been observed among patients treated with INB-200 (n=13). The majority of adverse events were Grade 1-2 and consistent with those typically associated with radiation and temozolomide. No treatment-related deaths have occurred.

Highlights from the Clinical Data as of May 31, 2025:

INB-200

Four patients (40%) who received repeated doses of INB-200 remain alive and progression free for a median of over two years, with three returning to work
No additional relapses were observed since the last data update on October 18, 2024
Among patients who received multiple doses of INB-200, mPFS reached 16.1 months, compared to 6.9 months with SOC and 8.3 months for patients who received only a single dose of INB-200
Repeat dosing demonstrated no additional safety risks, with most side effects being mild and attributable to the SOC therapy
50% of patients receiving repeated doses remained progression-free >18 months versus 0% of patients who received a single dose

INB-400

Data from our Phase 2 clinical trial of INB-400 in patients with newly diagnosed GBM, including three additional clinical sites, also show encouraging preliminary results: current mPFS is at 10.8 months. Additional updates expected late 2025

"Our goal is to achieve deeper responses and eliminate more cancer cells to ultimately extend the time patients can remain progression free and alive," stated William Ho, CEO and cofounder of IN8bio. "The data presented at ASCO (Free ASCO Whitepaper) by Dr. Nabors speaks to the potential of IN8bio’s gamma-delta T cells to provide a game-changing immunotherapy for this dire and life-threatening cancer. We believe that INB-200 represents a novel direction in therapy for the treatment of solid tumor cancers like GBM. The complete data from our Phase 1 trial and supporting data from our Phase 2 trial represent the first time a gamma-delta T cell therapy has shown the potential to extend mPFS beyond historical benchmarks."

IN8bio’s approach delivers gamma-delta T cells directly to the tumor cavity after surgery, applying sustained immune pressure to eliminate residual cancer cells. The Company’s DRI technology is designed to treat newly diagnosed GBM by harnessing the natural tumor-targeting power of gamma-delta T cells and the sensitizing effects of chemotherapy. This approach aims to eliminate the chemo-resistant cancer and stem cells that often survive SOC treatment and can lead to relapse.

Conference Call Details

IN8bio will host a conference call and webcast featuring Dr. Burt Nabors, the Principal Investigator, today, Monday, June 2, 2025 at 8:30 am EDT to review the updated clinical data from the ASCO (Free ASCO Whitepaper) presentation. The webcast can be accessed by clicking this link and can also be accessed on the Events & Presentations page of the Company’s website. To participate in the live call, please register using this link. It is recommended that participants register at least 15 minutes in advance of the call. Once registered, participants will be informed of the dial-in number and will be provided a unique PIN.

(1) Historical reported mPFS and mOS from Stupp Protocol (surgery, radiotherapy plus maintenance temozolomide); doi: 10.1056/NEJMoa043330

Immunocore to present at the 2025 Jefferies Global Healthcare Conference

On June 2, 2025 Immunocore Holdings plc (Nasdaq: IMCR) ("Immunocore" or the "Company"), a commercial-stage biotechnology company pioneering and delivering transformative immunomodulating medicines to radically improve outcomes for patients with cancer, infectious diseases and autoimmune diseases, reported that management will participate in the 2025 Jefferies Global Healthcare Conference (Press release, Immunocore, JUN 2, 2025, View Source [SID1234653610]).

Schedule your 30 min Free 1stOncology Demo!
Discover why more than 1,500 members use 1stOncology™ to excel in:

Early/Late Stage Pipeline Development - Target Scouting - Clinical Biomarkers - Indication Selection & Expansion - BD&L Contacts - Conference Reports - Combinatorial Drug Settings - Companion Diagnostics - Drug Repositioning - First-in-class Analysis - Competitive Analysis - Deals & Licensing

                  Schedule Your 30 min Free Demo!

2025 Jefferies Global Healthcare Conference
Fireside Chat: Thursday, June 5, 2025, at 11:05 a.m. EDT

The presentation will be webcast live and can be accessed by visiting ‘Events & Presentations’, under ‘Events’, via the ‘Investors’ section of Immunocore’s website at www.immunocore.com. Following the event, a replay of the presentation will be made available for a limited time.

ImmunityBio Receives FDA Expanded Access Authorization for Landmark Treatment of Lymphopenia With ANKTIVA®, the Cancer BioShield™ Platform, in Patients With Solid Tumors

On June 2, 2025 ImmunityBio, Inc. (NASDAQ: IBRX), a leading immunotherapy company, reported that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted Expanded Access authorization for the use of its Cancer BioShield platform, anchored by ANKTIVA (nogapendekin alfa inbakicept-pmln), to treat lymphopenia in adult patients with refractory or relapsed solid tumors independent of tumor type who have progressed after first-line standard-of-care treatment, chemotherapy, radiation, or immunotherapy (Press release, ImmunityBio, JUN 2, 2025, View Source [SID1234653609]).

Schedule your 30 min Free 1stOncology Demo!
Discover why more than 1,500 members use 1stOncology™ to excel in:

Early/Late Stage Pipeline Development - Target Scouting - Clinical Biomarkers - Indication Selection & Expansion - BD&L Contacts - Conference Reports - Combinatorial Drug Settings - Companion Diagnostics - Drug Repositioning - First-in-class Analysis - Competitive Analysis - Deals & Licensing

                  Schedule Your 30 min Free Demo!

To date no treatment exists for lymphopenia, a depletion of critical lymphocytes responsible for immunogenic cell death, specifically natural killer (NK) cells, killer CD8+ T cells and CD4+ with memory T cells. Treatment induced lymphopenia is a debilitating consequence of chemotherapy, radiation, and certain immunotherapies and steroids. This treatment-acquired immunodeficiency not only increases susceptibility to infections but also deprives the body’s immune system to fight residual or recurrent cancer, accelerating metastasis and disease progression, and contributing to early mortality. Countless publications over the last two decades has reported lymphopenia as a highly predictive biomarker of poor prognosis across all tumor types.1-6 Despite its significant clinical impact, the pharmaceutical industry has largely overlooked lymphopenia as a disease in its own right, and no approved therapies have existed to directly address it, until the approval of ANKTIVA in the treatment of BCG-unresponsive bladder cancer with the mechanism of action of an IL-15 superagonist proliferating key lymphocytes.7

While oncologists and patients have long had therapies such as EPOGEN and NEUPOGEN to manage chemotherapy- and radiation-induced anemia and neutropenia, no comparable option has been available for lymphopenia. ANKTIVA, an interleukin-15 (IL-15) agonist, is the first approved therapy with a defined mechanism of action to restore lymphocyte levels. It activates and proliferates NK and T cells without inducing immunosuppressive regulatory T cells (Tregs), offering the first solution for reversing this critical immune deficit of lymphocytes in cancer patients.7

"Lymphopenia has long been recognized as a major driver and predictor of early mortality in cancer—yet until now, it has remained unaddressed," said Dr. Patrick Soon-Shiong, Founder, Executive Chairman and Global Chief Scientific and Medical Officer of ImmunityBio. "This FDA authorization allows all patients with solid tumors suffering from immune collapse following first-line therapy of chemo, radiation, or immunotherapy to access ANKTIVA. The survival benefit we observed at ASCO (Free ASCO Whitepaper) 2025 in 3rd to 6th line advanced metastatic pancreatic cancer confirms that restoring lymphocyte levels—rather than depleting them—can change the course of disease."

At the 2025 ASCO (Free ASCO Whitepaper) Annual Meeting, ImmunityBio presented landmark results showing that reversing lymphopenia with ANKTIVA and CAR-NK therapy significantly prolonged median overall survival in third- to sixth-line metastatic pancreatic cancer patients. This benefit was further enhanced when treatment began at lower tumor burdens, as indicated by CA19-9 levels. Highlighting the importance of lymphopenia reversal, Oncologist published a peer-reviewed paper titled "Recurrent pancreatic cancer treated with N-803 and PD-L1 t-haNK followed by an EGFR-targeted nanocell drug conjugate," demonstrating that the patient with 2nd line metastatic pancreatic cancer treated with the full Cancer BioShield platform—including ANKTIVA, CAR-NK cells (PD-L1 t-haNK), and antigen-targeting adenoviruses—has remained in remission for over six years and maintains a high quality of life at the date of this release.

"We are entering a new era in oncology where the goal is not only to target the tumor but to protect and empower the immune system itself," continued Dr. Soon-Shiong. "Through this Expanded Access Program, we can now offer hope to patients with solid tumors who have exhausted standard options. Our mission is to transform cancer care by reversing the immune collapse that often leads to progression and mortality by enabling the body to serve as a factory for the regeneration and reconstitution of the lymphocytes key to immunogenic cell death of the tumor. By mitigating treatment induced lymphopenia from our standards of care, ANKTIVA can serve as a Cancer Bioshield."

In February 2025, ImmunityBio announced it had received a Regenerative Medicine Advanced Therapy (RMAT) designation from the FDA for ANKTIVA and CAR-NK (PD-L1 t-haNK) for the reversal of lymphopenia in patients receiving standard-of-care chemotherapy/radiotherapy and in relapsed locally advanced or metastatic pancreatic cancer. The RMAT designation is intended to expedite the development of therapies targeting serious or life-threatening conditions with unmet medical need.

Full results of our 2025 ASCO (Free ASCO Whitepaper) Annual Meeting can be found below:

Association of lymphopenia rescue and CA19-9 levels with overall survival following IL-15 superagonist N-803 and PD-L1 t-haNK chemo-immunotherapy for 3rd line or greater metastatic pancreatic cancer.
Abstract Text: View Source
Poster PDF: View Source

QUILT 3.076 phase 1 study of memory-like cytokine-enriched natural killer (M-CENK) cells plus N-803 in locally advanced or metastatic solid tumors.
Abstract Text: View Source
Poster PDF: View Source

About the Cancer BioShield Platform

The Cancer BioShield platform is a first-in-class immunotherapy strategy designed to restore immune competence by reversing lymphopenia—the loss of functional immune cells caused by cancer itself and by conventional treatments such as chemotherapy, radiation and immunotherapy. At its core is ANKTIVA (nogapendekin alfa inbakicept-pmln), an IL-15 agonist approved for BCG-unresponsive non–muscle-invasive bladder cancer CIS with or without papillary disease, activates and proliferates natural killer (NK) cells and CD4+ and CD8+ T cells, restoring lymphocyte levels critical for immunosurveillance, immunogenic cell death, and long-term tumor control.

The platform employs a multi-modal approach:

In-vivo stimulation: Subcutaneous administration of ANKTIVA expands NK and T cells, boosting anti-tumor immunity.
Ex-vivo targeted cytotoxicity: Off-the-shelf PD-L1 t-haNK CAR-NK cells are engineered to target and eliminate PD-L1–expressing tumor cells and immunosuppressive neutrophils (myeloid-derived suppressor cells), enhancing anti-tumor specificity and reducing immune evasion.
Memory Cytokine-Enriched Natural Killer (M-ceNK) cell therapy: M-ceNK cells are developed via cytokine activation and expansion of autologous and allogeneic NK cells collected through apheresis, potentially providing long-term immune memory and sustained cytotoxic capacity.
Together, these components offer a comprehensive, novel, immune-restoring therapeutic platform aimed at not only expanding effector immune cells, but also overcoming tumor-mediated immune suppression to support long-term disease control.

The platform’s effectiveness can be tracked through universally utilized simple complete blood count (CBC): increases in absolute lymphocyte count (ALC) reflect ANKTIVA’s lymphocyte-stimulating activity, while reductions in the neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) demonstrate PD-L1 t-haNK’s immunosuppressive neutrophil targeting. Low ALC and high NLR levels6 are laboratory measurements that have been extensively reported as predictive biomarkers of poor prognosis with early mortality across all tumor types.1-6 The data presented by ImmunityBio for the first time demonstrates that improving ALC and NLR correlates with significant enhanced overall survival and clinical benefit.

With potential applications extending beyond oncology—including infectious disease, sepsis, and immune senescence—the Cancer BioShield Platform represents a potentially transformative shift in treating not just the tumor, but the underlying immune collapse that allows disease to progress.

About Lymphopenia and Absolute Lymphocyte Count (ALC)

Lymphopenia—the loss of key immune cells such as NK, CD4+, and CD8+ T cells—is a common side effect of chemotherapy1, radiation2,3, and some immunotherapies4. Unlike anemia and neutropenia, which have FDA-approved treatments like EPOGEN and NEUPOGEN, no therapy previously existed to treat this immune cell depletion. Lymphopenia weakens the immune system, increases infection risk, and is linked to early death across many cancer types.1-6 Low Absolute Lymphocyte Count (ALC) is a recognized poor prognostic marker. ANKTIVA is the first approved therapy to restore lymphocyte levels by activating and expanding NK and T cells—without increasing immunosuppressive T regulatory cells.