IBRX Stock Rout Deepens: Founder Points To Cancer-Fighting Cell Bank Data As Investors Look For Catalyst

The project relies on an AI-driven manufacturing robot, Leonardo, to automate production and potentially scale NK cell output.

• Soon-Shiong sought to revive investor interest by highlighting upcoming data on billions of natural killer (NK) immune cells.
• The new data will include large-scale production and cryopreservation from more than 60 volunteers and cancer patients.
• On Monday, ImmunityBio resubmitted an FDA filing to expand the use of Anktiva for patients with early bladder cancer that no longer responds to BCG therapy.

While shares of ImmunityBio, Inc. (IBRX) have faced selling pressure in recent sessions, founder Patrick Soon-Shiong sought to reignite investor interest by highlighting upcoming data on billions of natural-killer (NK) cells as the company moves closer to building a global NK cell bank.

IBRX stock posted its sixth straight session of losses on Tuesday, sliding over 5% to end at $8.01.

ImmunityBio Nears ‘World Bank’ Of NK Cells

Soon-Shiong said on X that new data on large-scale NK cell production and cryopreservation will be released soon, suggesting the company is nearing the completion of a global “world bank of natural killer cells.” He added that the company has produced billions of NK cells and successfully cryopreserved samples from more than 60 healthy volunteers and cancer patients.

The initiative aims to build a large-scale repository of NK cells that could eventually support the global deployment of immune-based cancer therapies. NK cells are immune cells capable of recognizing and destroying cancer cells, making them a key component of immunotherapy.

AI Robot ‘Leonardo’ To Scale NK Cell Production

Soon-Shiong had outlined the concept in more detail in a separate post last month, saying the company had begun establishing the “world bank of natural killer cells.” He said ImmunityBio has identified cancer centers around the world where automated manufacturing robots could eventually be installed to produce and store NK cells.

According to Soon-Shiong, the goal is to automate production so that trillions of NK cells can be stored and engineered into CAR-NK cell therapies that could be used globally as off-the-shelf treatments.

Soon-Shiong said the initiative relies on an AI-driven manufacturing robot known as Leonardo, which he said has been trained with the company’s proprietary software to automate NK cell production. The system is designed to scale manufacturing and expand global access to NK-cell therapies. He also referenced the development of memory cytokine-enhanced NK cells, or M-ceNK, which can improve immune responses against tumors.

ImmunityBio Targets Larger Bladder Cancer Market

The NK-cell initiative comes as ImmunityBio continues to pursue regulatory expansion for its lead immunotherapy drug, Anktiva. On Monday, the company said the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) acknowledged receipt of a resubmitted supplemental biologics license application (sBLA) seeking to expand the drug’s use.

The filing seeks to expand approval of Anktiva when used with the standard Bacillus Calmette-Guerin (BCG) therapy to treat patients with early-stage bladder cancer with papillary tumors that no longer respond to BCG. The resubmission followed several meetings with regulators and the submission of additional data that the agency had requested earlier this year.

ImmunityBio said the updated filing includes long-term follow-up results from the Phase 2/3 Quilt 3.032 trial evaluating Anktiva plus BCG in patients with papillary disease. The study showed that 58.2% of patients remained cancer-free after 12 months, and more than 80% avoided bladder removal surgery over a 3-year follow-up period.

How Did Stocktwits Users React?

On Stocktwits, retail sentiment for IBRX was ‘bearish’ amid ‘low’ message volume.

One user said, “A drug gets you an approval. A world bank of killer cells gets you an industry.”

Another user called IBRX a “good resting place for oil gains.”

IBRX stock has surged over 300% year-to-date.

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