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ImmunityBio, Inc., a leading immunotherapy company, has announced the signing of a strategic Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Ministry of Investment of Saudi Arabia (MISA), King Faisal Specialist Hospital & Research Centre (KFSHRC), and King Abdullah International Medical Research Center (KAIMRC).
This multi-party collaboration will introduce the US FDA-approved Cancer BioShield platform to Saudi Arabia and the broader Middle East, paving the way for a new era of immune-restorative therapies for cancer patients.
The announcement was made during the Saudi-US Investment Forum 2025 in Riyadh, held alongside the state visit of US President Donald Trump.
The BioShield platform, powered by Anktiva® (nogapendekin alfa inbakicept)—the world’s first FDA-approved IL-15 superagonist to proliferate NK and T cells (lymphocytes)—represents a paradigm shift in cancer care. Unlike conventional treatments including chemotherapy and radiation that kill and suppress natural killer immune cells and thus paradoxically catalyze further spread, the BioShield protects and activates the immune system’s natural killer cells and T cells to restore immune function and prolong life.
For the first time in medicine, physicians can address the long-overlooked impact of lymphopenia (loss of NK and T cells), induced by current standards of care of chemotherapy, radiation, or by the cancer itself. The BioShield is the first therapy in history to specifically address the protection and restoration of lymphocytes, represented by NK, CD8, and CD4 T cells—the most important cells in the body needed to fight cancer and infection. Treating lymphopenia is an answer to premature death from life threatening diseases such as cancer and sepsis and, potentially, to aging and longevity in health.
ImmunityBio will collaborate closely with Saudi regulatory authorities and train healthcare professionals in advanced cell therapy protocols, supporting national objectives in biotechnology leadership.
