ImmunityBio, Inc. (NASDAQ: IBRX), a leading immunotherapy
company, today announced the unique, permanent Healthcare Common
Procedure Coding System (HCPCS) J-code assigned by the Centers for
Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) for ANKTIVA® (nogapendekin
alfa inbakicept-pmln) became effective January 1, 2025. The U.S.
Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved ANKTIVA with Bacillus
Calmette-Guérin (BCG) for the treatment of adult patients with
BCG-unresponsive non-muscle invasive bladder cancer (NMIBC) with
carcinoma in situ (CIS), with or without papillary tumors.
Healthcare providers may now use the permanent J-code, J9028
(Injection, nogapendekin alfa inbakicept-pmln, for intravesical
use, 1 microgram), when submitting claims for ANKTIVA. J-codes are
unique identifiers used by U.S. government and commercial payers,
as well as physicians and their office staff, to streamline the
billing and reimbursement process for intravesically administered
therapies and certain other treatments.
“The unique J-code for ANKTIVA is another milestone in our quest
to deliver the next generation of immunotherapy beyond T cell
activation and enables patients with bladder cancer to benefit from
the power of natural killer (NK) cells,” said Dr. Patrick
Soon-Shiong, Founder, Executive Chairman and Global Chief
Scientific and Medical Officer of ImmunityBio.
“In approximately 30-40% of patients with NMIBC, standard
therapy with BCG will fail, while in 50% of patients who initially
respond to BCG, their cancer will come back,” said Richard Adcock,
President and CEO of ImmunityBio. “This permanent J-code supports
our efforts to increase patient access to ANKTIVA, which in our
ongoing QUILT 3.032 study demonstrated a 71% complete response rate
in patients with BCG-unresponsive NMIBC CIS, as of November 2024,
with a duration of response of up to 54 months.”
Since its launch in May 2024, ANKTIVA has become widely
accessible to patients through commercial and government insurance
programs (VA, DoD, Medicare). ImmunityBio has secured coverage for
over 200 million medical lives through medical reimbursement
policies.
About ANKTIVA
The cytokine interleukin-15 (IL-15) plays a crucial role in the
immune system by affecting the development, maintenance, and
function of key immune cells—NK and CD8+ killer T cells—that are
involved in killing cancer cells. By activating NK cells, ANKTIVA
overcomes the tumor escape phase of clones resistant to T cells and
restores memory T cell activity with resultant prolonged duration
of complete response.
ANKTIVA is a first-in-class IL-15 agonist IgG1 fusion complex,
consisting of an IL-15 mutant (IL-15N72D) fused with an IL-15
receptor alpha, which binds with high affinity to IL-15 receptors
on NK, CD4+, and CD8+ T cells. This fusion complex of ANKTIVA
mimics the natural biological properties of the membrane-bound
IL-15 receptor alpha, delivering IL-15 by dendritic cells and
drives the activation and proliferation of NK cells with the
generation of memory killer T cells that have retained immune
memory against these tumor clones. The proliferation of the
trifecta of these immune killing cells and the activation of
trained immune memory results in immunogenic cell death, inducing a
state of equilibrium with durable complete responses. ANKTIVA has
improved pharmacokinetic properties, longer persistence in lymphoid
tissues, and enhanced anti-tumor activity compared to native,
non-complexed IL-15 in-vivo.
About ImmunityBio
ImmunityBio is a vertically-integrated biotechnology company
developing next-generation therapies and vaccines that bolster the
natural immune system to defeat cancers and infectious diseases.
The Company’s range of immunotherapy and cell therapy platforms,
alone and together, act to drive and sustain an immune response
with the goal of creating durable and safe protection against
disease. Designated an FDA Breakthrough Therapy, ANKTIVA is the
first FDA-approved immunotherapy for non-muscle invasive bladder
cancer CIS that activates natural killer cells, T cells, and memory
T cells for a long-duration response. The Company is applying its
science and platforms to treating cancers, including the
development of potential cancer vaccines, as well as developing
immunotherapies and cell therapies that we believe sharply reduce
or eliminate the need for standard high-dose chemotherapy. These
platforms and their associated product candidates are designed to
be more effective, accessible, and easily administered than current
standards of care in oncology and infectious diseases. For more
information, visit ImmunityBio.com and connect with us on X
(Twitter), Facebook, LinkedIn, and Instagram.
Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements within
the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of
1995, such as statements regarding commercial launch activities and
market access initiatives, medical insurance coverage and
reimbursement, market data, clinical trial data and potential
results to be drawn therefrom, the development of therapeutics for
cancer and infectious diseases, potential benefits to patients,
potential treatment outcomes for patients, the described mechanism
of action and results and contributions therefrom, potential future
uses and applications of ANKTIVA and use in cancer vaccines and
across multiple tumor types, and ImmunityBio’s approved product and
investigational agents as compared to existing treatment options,
among others. Statements in this press release that are not
statements of historical fact are considered forward-looking
statements, which are usually identified by the use of words such
as “anticipates,” “believes,” “continues,” “goal,” “could,”
“estimates,” “scheduled,” “expects,” “intends,” “may,” “plans,”
“potential,” “predicts,” “indicate,” “projects,” “is,” “seeks,”
“should,” “will,” “strategy,” and variations of such words or
similar expressions.
Statements of past performance, efforts, or results of our
preclinical and clinical trials, about which inferences or
assumptions may be made, can also be forward-looking statements and
are not indicative of future performance or results.
Forward-looking statements are neither forecasts, promises nor
guarantees, and are based on the current beliefs of ImmunityBio’s
management as well as assumptions made by and information currently
available to ImmunityBio. Such information may be limited or
incomplete, and ImmunityBio’s statements should not be read to
indicate that it has conducted a thorough inquiry into, or review
of, all potentially available relevant information. Such statements
reflect the current views of ImmunityBio with respect to future
events and are subject to known and unknown risks, including
business, regulatory, economic and competitive risks,
uncertainties, contingencies and assumptions about ImmunityBio,
including, without limitation, (i) risks and uncertainties
regarding commercial launch execution, success and timing, (ii)
risks and uncertainties regarding market access initiatives and
timing, (iii) risks and uncertainties related to the regulatory
submission, filing and review process and the timing thereof, (iv)
whether clinical trials will result in registrational pathways and
the risks and uncertainties regarding the regulatory submission,
review and approval process, (v) whether clinical trial data will
be accepted by regulatory agencies, (vi) the ability of ImmunityBio
to continue its planned preclinical and clinical development of its
development programs through itself and/or its investigators, and
the timing and success of any such continued preclinical and
clinical development, patient enrollment and planned regulatory
submissions, (vii) potential delays in product availability and
regulatory approvals, (viii) ImmunityBio’s ability to retain and
hire key personnel, (ix) ImmunityBio’s ability to obtain additional
financing to fund its operations and complete the development and
commercialization of its various product candidates, (x) potential
product shortages or manufacturing disruptions that may impact the
availability and timing of product, (xi) ImmunityBio’s ability to
successfully commercialize its approved product and product
candidates, (xii) ImmunityBio’s ability to scale its manufacturing
and commercial supply operations for its approved product and
future approved products, and (xiii) ImmunityBio’s ability to
obtain, maintain, protect, and enforce patent protection and other
proprietary rights for its product candidates and technologies.
More details about these and other risks that may impact
ImmunityBio’s business are described under the heading “Risk
Factors” in the Company’s Form 10-K filed with the U.S. Securities
and Exchange Commission (SEC) on March 19, 2024 and the Company’s
Form 10-Q filed with the SEC on November 12, 2024, and in
subsequent filings made by ImmunityBio with the SEC, which are
available on the SEC’s website at www.sec.gov. ImmunityBio cautions
you not to place undue reliance on any forward looking statements,
which speak only as of the date hereof. ImmunityBio does not
undertake any duty to update any forward-looking statement or other
information in this press release, except to the extent required by
law.
View source
version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20250106810597/en/
Investors Hemanth Ramaprakash, PhD, MBA
ImmunityBio, Inc. +1 858-746-9289
Hemanth.Ramaprakash@ImmunityBio.com
Media Sarah Singleton ImmunityBio, Inc. +1
415-290-8045 Sarah.Singleton@ImmunityBio.com
ImmunityBio (NASDAQ:IBRX)
Historical Stock Chart
From Dec 2024 to Jan 2025
ImmunityBio (NASDAQ:IBRX)
Historical Stock Chart
From Jan 2024 to Jan 2025