ImmunityBio: ANKTIVA’s Immune-Restoring Potential in NSCLC Underpins Buy Rating and $8 Target

Andres Y. Maldonado, an analyst from H.C. Wainwright, reiterated the Buy rating on ImmunityBio. The associated price target remains the same with $8.00.

Andres Y. Maldonado has given his Buy rating due to a combination of factors related to ANKTIVA’s emerging clinical profile in NSCLC and its broader immunotherapy potential. He highlights interim data from both first-line and later-line NSCLC studies showing that ANKTIVA meaningfully raises and maintains lymphocyte levels in a large portion of treated patients, with those achieving higher lymphocyte counts experiencing markedly longer survival than typically seen with existing standards of care. The correlation between restored lymphocyte counts and improved overall survival, independent of PD-L1 status, supports the view that ANKTIVA can function as a core immune-restoring agent rather than a niche therapy. These results build on prior pancreatic cancer data, reinforcing the idea that improving immune cell counts may be a broadly relevant mechanism across tumor types and settings.
At the same time, Maldonado acknowledges open questions around the durability of immune reconstitution, the functional quality of the recovered lymphocytes, and how regulators might view absolute lymphocyte count as a biomarker in Phase 3 trials. Nonetheless, ongoing and planned randomized studies, particularly the ResQ201 program comparing ANKTIVA-based therapy against docetaxel in second-line NSCLC, provide a clear path to potentially practice-changing evidence. He also notes that future data could lead to upward revisions in revenue expectations if the survival benefits observed to date are confirmed in larger, controlled settings. Taken together, the strength of the current clinical signals, the scalability of ANKTIVA as a combinable backbone immunotherapy, and the upside from successful Phase 3 outcomes underpin his Buy rating and $8 price target for ImmunityBio.