ImmunityBio Loses Bid to Dodge Investor Suit Over Drug Rejection

ImmunityBio Inc. must face a shareholder lawsuit alleging the biotech company misled investors about the manufacturing process for its flagship drug candidate.

The suit was filed last year after federal regulators initially rejected cancer treatment Anktiva, citing deficiencies found in a preapproval inspection at a third-party manufacturing plant. Investors said ImmunityBio had repeatedly touted its manufacturing capabilities.

Investors had shown enough to move ahead with claims that ImmunityBio’s statements about its compliance with federal drug manufacturing standards were misleading, Judge Gonzalo Curiel in the US District Court for the Southern District of California said Thursday.

“A company suffering from severe ...