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Toxol, but wrapped it in protein that made it eas-
ier to deliver to tumors. It’s now used to treat ad-
vanced cases of lung, breast and pancreatic can-
cer. In 1998, to develop Abraxane, he purchased
Fujisawa, a small, publicly traded business that
sold injectable generic drugs. Soon-Shiong used
its revenues to quickly move Abraxane through
the regulatory process. The FDA approved it in
2005, and in 2007 Soon-Shiong split the business
in two, spinning out a company called Abraxis
that focused on the new cancer drug. He sold the
generics business to Fresenius in 2008 for $4.6
billion. Two years later, he sold Abraxis to Celgene
for $4.5 billion. Celgene, itself acquired by Bris-
tol Myers Squibb in November 2019, reports that
sales of Abraxane exceed $1 billion annually.
The complex business deals that went into
Abraxane, however, left Soon-Shiong with “a
reputation as more of a wheeler-dealer than a
scientist,” as we noted in 2014. Back then, he
posted to Twitter under the grandiose handle
@solvehealthcare, but today he simply uses his
name. Over several recent Zoom conversations,
he evinces very little showmanship. He’s visibly
tired, exhibiting the most excitement when he
starts talking about intricate scientific details.
“I’m burning out a little bit,” he candidly admits,
adding that he’s been getting only about four to
six hours of sleep a night since February. Over
that time, he says, his companies have concen-
trated on both continuing to develop his cancer
treatments and working to employ them against
Covid-19. He peppers his statements about his
company’s approach to both cancer and the
coronavirus with qualifiers about the results of
pending studies, carefully avoiding seeming to
overpromise.
Soon-Shiong has multiple interrelated busi-
nesses organized in a complex corporate struc-
ture that would have puzzled the Byzantines. But
his Covid-19 efforts come from the two compa-
nies he founded that work on developing cancer
immunotherapies: NantKwest, a publicly traded
outfit based in San Diego, and the privately held
ImmunityBio.
Cancer immunotherapy is based on the no-
tion that the body’s own immune system can be
stimulated to treat the disease. That idea dates
to the 19th century, when scientists first ob-
served tumors getting smaller after patients de-
veloped a type of skin infection. This led to some
of the first experiments in which the immune
system of cancer patients was stimulated. Ear-
ly efforts proved difficult to reproduce, though,
and the field got sidetracked by advances in che-
motherapy and radiation. Interest spiked anew
in 1959, when a paper showed that the tuber-
culosis vaccine inhibited tumor growth in mice.
After decades of intense research, the first can-
cer immunotherapy was approved by the FDA
in 1986.
Other types of immunotherapies followed,
ranging from purified antibodies that attack can-
cer to drugs that turn off the chemical switches
that let tumor cells hide from the immune sys-
tem. The latest advances involve CAR-T cell ther-
apy, which first gained FDA approval in 2017 and
involves genetically engineering immune cells
from patients so that they attack certain targets
found in tumor cells.
Founded in 2002, Soon-Shiong’s company
NantKwest focuses on developing so-called “nat-
ural killer” (NK) cells, which the immune system
uses to destroy virally infected cells as well as
early-stage tumors. The company has been work-
ing to develop a line of “off-the-shelf ” NK cells
called NK-92, which can be used to treat certain
cancers as well as viral infections.
The company, which has yet to post any mean-
ingful revenue, has lost nearly $400 million since
it went public at $25 a share (a $2.6 billion mar-
ket cap) in 2015. The stock has recently traded
in the $10.50 range, off a bottom of around $1 a
share in 2019. One reason for the stock’s surge,
says Jefferies analyst Biren Amin, is the compa-
ny’s reported research into the coronavirus pan-
demic. The second, he suggests, involves former
Senator Reid’s cancer treatment, which made use
of the company’s products.
Medical Maestro
Soon-Shiong at
Nant’s Los Angeles
headquarters in 2017.
“I see [the complexity
of the immune system]
like an orchestra, but
the challenge is to
separate the violin
from the cello from
the drums.”