Patrick Soon-Shiong, a controversial figure in the biotech industry, was harshly criticized by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for making several false and misleading claims about a cancer treatment in television ads and in a podcast.
In a March 13 warning letter to ImmunityBio, which is primarily owned and controlled by Soon-Shiong, the agency found fault with numerous comments about the therapy, called Anktiva. The drug is marketed as a treatment for a type of bladder cancer, but the FDA noted both the ad and podcast suggested it was able to treat “all cancers.”
The agency noted that material facts were omitted — notably, that Anktiva must be used in combination with a vaccine; risks were downplayed in the ad and never mentioned in the podcast; and both the ad and podcast indicated that patients treated with Anktiva would be “cancer free,” which was not supported by clinical studies.
False. The video is old and actually depicts a fire that broke out at a market in Ajman, in the UAE, in August 2020. An old video of a fire in the UAE has been circulating on social media alongside...