IBRX Stock To Open Week On A High? Chairman Teases Anktiva’s 3-Year Expansion Plans, Hints At Cancer Breakthrough

The chairman pointed to upcoming updates on IL-15’s long-studied role in cancer immunotherapy.

Shares of ImmunityBio, Inc. (IBRX) are back in focus on Monday after executive chairman Patrick Soon-Shiong teased a detailed three-year expansion roadmap, reviving retail excitement.

IBRX stock jumped over 1% on Monday, hitting its highest levels since May 2024. 

Chairman Teases Anktiva Expansion Plan

Soon-Shiong said on X that a detailed press release outlining a three-year expansion plan for the BioShield platform, which includes Anktiva, is expected to be released on Monday, calling it a “good beginning of the year of the fire horse.” He also weighed in on discussions around Anktiva’s underlying IL-15 mechanism, responding to comments highlighting its scientific importance in natural killer cell protocols.

Soon-Shiong added that more news would follow on how IL-15 had been ranked as a leading cytokine with potential to cure cancer as far back as 2007, agreeing that Anktiva has now “finally packaged it right.”

Anktiva’s Saudi Arabia Push

ImmunityBio said on Friday that it partnered with Biopharma and Cigalah Healthcare to launch Anktiva in Saudi Arabia, marking the company’s entry into the Middle East and North Africa region (MENA).

The company said the partners will support the commercialization and distribution of Anktiva initially in Saudi Arabia, with plans to expand across the broader MENA region over time. ImmunityBio also said it will establish a new Saudi-based unit for distribution and physician engagement across the region.

Anktiva received approval from the Saudi Food and Drug Authority in January 2026 for two indications: in combination with BCG for patients with BCG-unresponsive non-muscle-invasive bladder cancer (carcinoma in situ), and in combination with a checkpoint inhibitor for patients with metastatic non-small cell lung cancer.

Regulatory Wins Build Globally

ImmunityBio’s expansion efforts come alongside a string of recent regulatory milestones. Last week, the European Commission granted conditional marketing authorization for Anktiva in BCG-unresponsive bladder cancer, clearing the therapy for use across EU member states as well as Norway, Iceland, and Liechtenstein.

The company said it will submit long-term safety and efficacy data to the European Medicines Agency as part of the conditional approval process. Anktiva is now approved in 33 countries, including the U.S. Separately, ImmunityBio announced a partnership with Accord Healthcare to expand access to Anktiva across 30 additional countries and established a new commercialization hub in Dublin to support European operations.

Trump’s Role In Faster Anktiva Approval

Soon-Shiong also said last week that talks with U.S. President Donald Trump and Mohammed bin Salman helped accelerate regulatory approvals and global expansion for Anktiva. He said a May 2025 meeting held around the Saudi-U.S. Investment Forum led to rapid progress, including approvals tied to BioShield and the formation of the Saudi operating unit.

He added that distribution readiness for both bladder and lung cancer indications within a year of approval “will amaze all at the speed.”

‘World Bank of Natural Killer Cells’ Vision

Last week, Soon-Shiong also outlined plans to establish a “world bank of natural killer cells.” He said ImmunityBio has identified global cancer centers where AI-driven manufacturing robots would be deployed to automate the storage and engineering of trillions of natural killer cells for off-the-shelf therapies, including CAR-NK treatments linked to Anktiva.

Soon-Shiong said the company’s AI-driven manufacturing system, referred to as Leonardo, has already been trained with ImmunityBio’s software.

How Did Stocktwits Users React?

On Stocktwits, retail sentiment for IBRX was ‘extremely bullish’ amid ‘high’ message volume.

One user said, “omg this stock is like Tesla 6 years ago, this is so gigantic I can't believe it. Could head straight to 100 billion then 1 trillion. 100x+ potentia.l”

Another user said, “In that 3 year expansion plan we may finally get details on the “Saudi funding “to "scale such product to the world" as was already put out there!?”

IBRX stock has skyrocketed 340% year-to-date.

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