Stock Market Today, Feb. 18: ImmunityBio Soars After EU Approves ANKTIVA for Bladder Cancer
ImmunityBio (NASDAQ:IBRX), which develops immunotherapies and vaccines for cancers and infectious diseases, closed Wednesday at $8.54, up 41.86%. The stock jumped after the European Commission granted conditional marketing authorization for Anktiva to treat bladder cancer. Trading volume reached 78.5 million shares, about 178% above its three-month average of 28.2 million shares. ImmunityBio IPO'd in 2015 and has fallen 75% since going public.
How the markets moved today
The S&P 500 rose 0.53% to finish Wednesday at 6,880, while the Nasdaq Composite added 0.78% to close at 22,754. Within biotechnology, industry peers were mixed, with Iovance Biotherapeutics closing at $2.72 (+3.82%) and Krystal Biotech ending at $283.29 (-1.58%).
What this means for investors
ImmunityBio received conditional marketing authorization from the European Commission for its Anktiva immunotherapy, to be used in conjunction with the Bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG) vaccine, when treating BCG-unresponsive bladder cancer. This gives ImmunityBio access to over 30 new countries and likely positions its flagship immunotherapy to continue growing sales at an accelerated rate.
ImmunityBio’s stock has now more than quadrupled in 2026 as the company:
- grew Anktiva sales over 700% in 2025
- also received approvals from the Saudi Food and Drug Authority
- released promising data on Anktiva treating non-small cell lung cancer
- highlighted a growing number of use cases for Anktiva, such as treating solid tumors
Though Anktiva is proving to be a very promising cancer treatment, ImmunityBio will remain a volatile stock, as it remains highly dependent upon positive news from its main immunotherapy.
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Josh Kohn-Lindquist has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Iovance Biotherapeutics and Krystal Biotech. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
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