BUZZ-ImmunityBio rises on promising early cancer trial data

** Shares of ImmunityBio IBRX.O rises 25% to $3.95 premarket

** Drugmaker says early data from a lymphoma study — testing an experimental cell therapy — and faster-than-expected enrollment in its bladder-cancer trial showed durable cancer control

** In the rare blood-cancer study, co says all four lymphoma patients stayed cancer-free after outpatient cell-therapy dosing, with two maintaining responses for 7–15 months and no serious side effects, per co

** The co said its experimental drug Anktiva is being studied in the bladder-cancer study, in combination with BCG

** Co says an FDA-requested analysis showed that patients who received Anktiva, together with BCG, stayed cancer‑free at nine months in 84% of cases, compared with 52% among those who received BCG alone

** BCG is a decades-old bladder-cancer treatment made from a weakened bacterium that helps the immune system attack cancer cells

** Co says its recombinant BCG access program is progressing amid national shortages

** As of last close, stock down ~23% over the past year

(Reporting by Sahil Pandey in Bengaluru)

((Sahil.Pandey@thomsonreuters.com))