ImmunityBio's Cancer Therapy Clears Major EU Hurdle, Opening Door To Earlier Access For Thousands Of Patients

ImmunityBio ((IBRX), a leading immunotherapy company, announced today that the European Medicines Agency has recommended granting a conditional marketing authorization in the EU for ANKTIVA® (nogapendekin alfa inbakicept) in combination with Bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG) for the treatment of BCG-unresponsive non-muscle invasive bladder cancer (NMIBC) carcinoma in situ. This recommendation will help facilitate early access to medicines that address conditions where the remaining treatment option is surgery to remove the bladder.

"ANKTIVA represents an important evolution in the treatment of NMIBC CIS, strengthening the immune response and improving the durability of BCG," said Dr. Patrick Soon-Shiong, Founder, Executive Chairman and Global Chief Scientific and Medical Officer of ImmunityBio. "Hundreds of patients in the U.S. are already experiencing the benefits of this therapy, and our goal is to make it available to patients in Europe and other parts of the world as quickly and responsibly as possible, to ensure avoidance of a radical cystectomy. We are pleased that the EMA issued this positive recommendation based on our single-arm trial and through a regulatory process that allows earlier access to ANKTIVA, when as stated in the EMA announcement, the benefit of a medicine's immediate availability to patients outweighs the inherent risks."

"ANKTIVA offers a new treatment option for patients and addresses an important unmet need," the EMA noted in an announcement on the recommendation. "There are currently no authorised treatments for NMIBC that does [sic] not respond to BCG."

Bladder cancer is a serious public health concern in the European Union, ranking as the fifth-most common cancer and the seventh most frequently diagnosed cancer in men.2,3 The European Association of Urology and World Bladder Cancer Patient Coalition estimate that more than 200,000 patients will be diagnosed with bladder cancer in 2025.4 Approximately 75% of these patients (150,000) will have NMIBC, which is cancer that has grown only on the lining of the bladder and not into the muscle layer underneath, and is the most common form of bladder cancer.

"We are looking forward to finalizing plans to bring our innovative treatment to qualified EU patients," said Richard Adcock, President and CEO of ImmunityBio. "With the United States' new Most-Favored-Nation Prescription Drug Pricing policy now in effect, we are thoughtfully assessing our approach to launching in Europe to ensure broad, equitable, and sustainable access."

The decision was based on a review of the results of a single-arm clinical trial in 100 adults with BCG-unresponsive NMIBC who received ANKTIVA in combination with BCG. In 71% of patients, signs of cancer disappeared (complete response rate) with responses ranging up to 54+ months; these responses lasted for approximately 27 months on average. The complete response rate of responders at 12 months was 66% and at 24 months was 42%. As part of the recommendation, ImmunityBio will continue to follow up with trial participants and submit long-term safety and efficacy post-marketing results to the EMA.

"Six BCG strains are available in Europe for use in combination with ANKTIVA, and we are expeditiously developing our recombinant BCG candidate to address ongoing BCG shortages in the U.S. and help ensure that all eligible patients can benefit from this treatment," said Adcock.

ANKTIVA has been recommended for a conditional marketing authorization, an EU regulatory mechanism designed to facilitate early access to medicines that address an unmet medical need. This pathway allows the EMA to recommend marketing authorization when the benefit of a medicine's immediate availability to patients outweighs the potential risks associated with the data, in this case, from a single-arm trial. The EMA's opinion will now be forwarded to the European Commission for final approval of EU-wide marketing authorization.