SLS, IBRX Eye Fresh Oncology Tailwind As Cathie Wood’s ARK Backs Personalized Cancer-Vaccine Future

ARK sees a path toward custom cancer treatments for every patient, though current costs of $200,000-$300,000 remain a major hurdle.

• ARK called Merck-Moderna’s Intismeran combination “potentially life-extending, life-saving,” citing earlier Phase 2b data.
• Sellas’ GPS cancer vaccine targets WT1 and is being tested in AML patients through the Phase 3 Regal trial.
• ImmunityBio completed Anktiva’s first German labeling and packaging run, advancing the drug’s European expansion.

Shares of Sellas Life Sciences (SLS) and ImmunityBio (IBRX) are in focus early Thursday after Cathie Wood’s ARK Investment Management backed the personalized cancer-vaccine future, while ImmunityBio completed its first European labeling and packaging run for Anktiva, its flashup immunotherapy drug.

SLS stock is set to snap a three-week winning streak after falling 11% so far this week, while IBRX is headed for a second consecutive weekly gain after climbing 6%. 

ARK Sees Custom Cancer Treatments Ahead 

Merck and Moderna’s Intismeran Autogene is custom-built after a patient’s tumor is removed. Researchers identify mutations unique to that cancer and create an mRNA vaccine that trains the immune system to attack it if it returns.

“It’s not a drug that you buy off the shelf, it’s a drug that’s custom-designed for each patient’s cancer,” ARK said on its podcast. Merck and Moderna recently reported positive Phase 3 results in high-risk melanoma, with Intismeran plus Keytruda keeping patients cancer-free longer and delaying distant spread compared with Keytruda alone.

ARK highlighted an earlier Phase 2b study showing a 50% mortality reduction, calling the combination “potentially life-extending, life-saving.” It called approval “highly likely,” while stressing that the therapy remains unapproved and complete Phase 3 data have not been presented. The firm said personalized vaccines could eventually make broadly applied treatments look outdated.

“Sometime in the future, we could look back and be like, ‘I can’t believe you were taking basically the equivalent of aspirin for every cancer,’” ARK said. “This is kind of a pathway towards customized cancer treatments for everybody.” ARK estimated that individualized treatments currently cost $200,000 to $300,000 per patient, making manufacturing scale and affordability key hurdles.

ARK owns neither Moderna nor Merck, having exited its Moderna position by the end of 2024. Its personalized-oncology exposure instead includes tumor-sequencing companies Personalis (PSNL) and Tempus AI (TEM), mRNA developer Arcturus Therapeutics (ARCT), and genetic-technology providers Twist Bioscience (TWST), Illumina (ILMN) and 10x Genomics (TXG).

Sellas Pairs GPS With Keytruda 

Sellas’ lead candidate, Galinpepimut-S (GPS) is a cancer vaccine that trains the immune system to recognize WT1, a protein expressed at high levels in several cancers.

GPS is being tested as a maintenance treatment for acute myeloid leukemia in the Phase 3 Regal trial. The study is evaluating whether the vaccine can extend survival by targeting residual leukemia cells after patients achieve remission.

Sellas has also worked with Merck to combine GPS with Keytruda, mirroring the broader strategy behind Intismeran: pair a vaccine that teaches the immune system what to attack with a checkpoint inhibitor that prevents cancer from suppressing that response.

In patients with WT1-positive ovarian cancer, GPS plus Keytruda kept the disease under control longer and delayed progression compared with historical results for Keytruda alone. The Merck-Moderna success does not validate GPS directly, but it could boost investor confidence in cancer vaccines and vaccine-checkpoint inhibitor combinations ahead of the Regal readout.

ImmunityBio Moves Anktiva Closer To Europe 

ImmunityBio founder Patrick Soon-Shiong announced late Wednesday that Anktiva’s first German labeling and packaging run was complete. “Proud moment for our team and for patients across Europe,” Soon-Shiong said on X. “These vials represent more than manufacturing. They mark the next step in bringing this IL-15 immunotherapy to patients with BCG-unresponsive NMIBC who previously faced limited options.”

“Global access continues. Unstoppable,” he added. Anktiva activates natural killer cells and T cells and is used in BCG-unresponsive non-muscle-invasive bladder cancer.  ImmunityBio has also tested Anktiva with Keytruda and similar checkpoint inhibitors in lung cancer, including patients whose tumors stopped responding to PD-1 or PD-L1 therapies. 

How Do Retail Traders Feel About SLS And IBRX?

On Stocktwits, retail sentiment was ‘bullish’ for SLS amid ‘high’ message volume, while sentiment was ‘neutral’ for IBRX amid ‘normal’ chatter.

Over the past year, SLS has surged 654%, while IBRX has jumped 247%.

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