Forget ImmunityBio: This Big‑Cap Pharma Is the Safer Play on Next‑Gen Cancer Therapies

Oncology is the largest therapeutic country successful the biopharma industry, successful presumption of sales. The accelerated emergence successful caller years of drugs to dainty diabetes and negociate value nonaccomplishment mightiness disrupt the accepted hierarchy, but it's harmless to accidental that oncology volition stay 1 of the astir lucrative areas.

ImmunityBio (NASDAQ: IBRX) is simply a mid-cap drugmaker making waves successful this niche close now; the company's shares person soared implicit the past 12 months. Although ImmunityBio appears promising, investors looking to stake connected crab therapies implicit the agelong tally should opt for a larger, safer stock.

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One that investors should see contiguous is Merck (NYSE: MRK). Here's the rundown.

ImmunityBio developed a medicine called Anktiva, which, successful 2024, earned support successful the U.S. for invasive bladder cancer. Anktiva made tremendous advancement past year. For 2025, ImmunityBio reported full gross of $113 million, astir 668% higher than the erstwhile year.

In fairness, since Anktiva was lone approved successful April 2024 (and launched later), it spent lone astir fractional of that twelvemonth connected the market. So the income maturation compared to 2025, erstwhile it was connected the marketplace for the full year, isn't wholly apples-to-apples.

Anktiva intelligibly has plentifulness of momentum, and ImmunityBio doesn't deliberation it volition stop. The institution is gearing up to motorboat it successful different regions, including the European Union and Saudi Arabia. Furthermore, the biotech institution is readying immoderate statement expansions for the medicine. Anktiva is undergoing objective trials successful lung cancer, lymphoma, ovarian cancer, and different conditions specified arsenic HIV infection.

While ImmunityBio is performing good close now, valuation mightiness beryllium a concern. The company's marketplace headdress is $9.7 cardinal -- with income past twelvemonth of acold little than $500 million. True, the marketplace is forward-looking. Even so, determination is plentifulness of hazard and uncertainty to see here.

Anktiva could neglect mid-stage oregon pivotal studies; commercialized rollout successful different countries could tally into problems; and ImmunityBio mightiness brushwood regulatory roadblocks. If immoderate of those things happen, the company's shares volition drop, possibly significantly. That's why, contempt Anktiva's beardown momentum, ImmunityBio's shares look risky.

What astir Merck? The institution whitethorn not turn its income by 700% twelvemonth implicit year, but it generates accordant gross and earnings. Merck's astir important merchandise is Keytruda, the best-selling crab medicine successful the satellite (and second-best-selling overall). Keytruda is approved crossed galore antithetic cancers; it has won much than 30 indications successful the U.S. alone. That's impressive.