ImmunityBio Inc. (NASDAQ:IBRX) shares are up Tuesday following the announcement that the National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) has updated its Clinical Practice Guidelines in Oncology for Bladder Cancer.

The agency included Anktiva in combination with Bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG) for BCG-unresponsive non-muscle invasive bladder cancer (NMIBC) with papillary-only disease.

ImmunityBio Bladder Cancer Drug Included In Treatment Guideline

The update expands previous NCCN clinical guideline recommendations, which included patients with BCG-unresponsive NMIBC with carcinoma in situ (CIS) with or without papillary disease.

Both recommendations are Category 2A.

The immunotherapy regimen is designed to activate natural killer (NK) cells and T cells and has demonstrated durable responses in clinical studies.

The NCCN guideline reference to Anktiva for patients with BCG-unresponsive NMIBC with papillary-only disease reflects a use that is not included in the current U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved indication for Anktiva.

Richard Adcock, President and CEO of ImmunityBio, emphasized that this update validates the evolving clinical guidance for patients and underscores the importance of immune-based ...