{"id":608981,"date":"2026-08-30T06:42:15","date_gmt":"2026-08-30T06:42:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/608981\/"},"modified":"2026-08-30T06:42:15","modified_gmt":"2026-08-30T06:42:15","slug":"sls-ibrx-catch-the-eye-of-a-major-us-pension-fund-and-big-clinical-catalysts-are-on-the-horizon","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/608981\/","title":{"rendered":"SLS, IBRX Catch The Eye Of A Major US Pension Fund \u2014 And Big Clinical Catalysts Are On The Horizon"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Virginia Retirement System disclosed SLS and IBRX stakes worth nearly $909,000 combined.<\/p>\n<p>The $124 billion fund ranks as America\u2019s 15th-largest public or private pension fund.Sellas\u2019 Phase 3 Regal trial is two events away from triggering its final analysis.ImmunityBio is planning a trial combining Pluvicto with an IL-15-based treatment.<\/p>\n<p>America\u2019s 15th-largest public or private pension fund has disclosed stakes in Sellas Life Sciences (SLS) and ImmunityBio (IBRX), bringing fresh institutional attention to two biotech stocks with major cancer-drug milestones ahead.<\/p>\n<p>So far in August,\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/stocktwits.com\/symbol\/SLS\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">SLS shares<\/a> have jumped 41%, while\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/stocktwits.com\/symbol\/IBRX\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">IBRX stock<\/a> has gained 14%.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Virginia Pension Fund Reveals SLS, IBRX Stakes<\/p>\n<p>Virginia Retirement System reported holding 17,400 shares of SLS and 74,500 shares of IBRX as of June 30, according to Fiscal AI data. The pension system managed $124 billion in net assets as of mid-2025 and serves more than 860,000 active and retired members.<\/p>\n<p>Virginia Retirement System\u2019s SLS stock position was valued at $256,824 at the end of the second quarter, while its IBRX stock holding was worth $652,248. Together, the positions carried a reported value of nearly $909,000.<\/p>\n<p>Other institutions also increased their\u00a0exposure to Sellas. California State Teachers\u2019 Retirement System raised its stake more than 20-fold to 202,374 shares, while Susquehanna added 1.65 million shares to reach 2.05 million. Jones Financial increased its position to 2.3 million shares, and Wellington Management lifted its holding by 73% to 597,309. Sellas had 176 reported institutional holders.<\/p>\n<p>ImmunityBio had 367 institutional holders. Two Sigma increased its stake by 153% to 11.1 million shares, valued at $97.2 million, while Charles Schwab and CalSTRS raised their positions to 2.89 million and 410,655 shares, respectively. However, D.E. Shaw, Woodline Partners and Bank of America reduced their holdings.<\/p>\n<p>SLS Nears Make-Or-Break Phase 3 Trigger<\/p>\n<p>The institutional disclosures come at a crucial time for Sellas. Its Phase 3 Regal trial of Galinpepimut-S (GPS) in acute myeloid leukemia (AML) has recorded 78 of the 80 events required to trigger the final analysis. Sellas plans to announce when the 80th event occurs before proceeding with the customary database lock, blinded review, statistical analysis, and unblinding.<\/p>\n<p>The study will be considered successful if GPS produces median overall survival of 12.6 months, compared with eight months for the control arm. A positive outcome could support a biologics license application to the Food and Drug Administration. Sellas has entered a clinical quiet period as it prepares for the final analysis.<\/p>\n<p>Sellas is separately advancing SLS009. It has enrolled 28 of a planned 80 patients in a Phase 2 trial involving newly diagnosed AML, with initial results expected in the fourth quarter of 2026.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>IBRX\u2019s Major Cancer-Drug Catalysts\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>ImmunityBio, meanwhile, is exploring a combination of targeted radiation and immune activation. Founder Patrick Soon-Shiong recently said on X that a trial combining Novartis\u2019 Pluvicto with an IL-15-based treatment is being planned. Pluvicto uses lutetium-177, or Lu-177, to deliver radiation directly to cancer cells, limiting damage to surrounding healthy tissue.<\/p>\n<p>Anktiva, ImmunityBio\u2019s flagship drug, is an IL-15-based immune activator. Soon-Shiong did not specify whether the proposed trial would use Anktiva or another IL-15 treatment, and the company has not disclosed its design or timing.<\/p>\n<p>ImmunityBio is also awaiting an FDA decision on an application to expand Anktiva\u2019s U.S. label to papillary-only bladder cancer patients. The agency is expected to act by Jan.6, 2027. Supporting data showed that 58% of 80 patients remained disease-free after one year, while 83% avoided bladder-removal surgery at three years.<\/p>\n<p>How Do Retail Traders Feel About SLS And IBRX?<\/p>\n<p>On Stocktwits, retail sentiment was \u2018bullish\u2019 for SLS amid \u2018high\u2019 message volume, while sentiment for IBRX was \u2018neutral\u2019 amid \u2018normal\u2019 chatter.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Over the past year, SLS shares have surged 637%, while IBRX stock has climbed 264%.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>For updates and corrections, email newsroom[at]stocktwits[dot]com.<\/p>\n<p>Read Next:\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/stocktwits.com\/news-articles\/markets\/equity\/meta-billions-teen-addiction-trial-gary-black-boost-stock\/cZYNmxMRJo6\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Meta Could Pay Billions To End Teen Addiction Trial \u2013 Gary Black Says That Could Boost META Stock\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a class=\"STButton_lg__XBy4m text-lg px-6 gap-2 STButton_button__ObG_J h-[--size] inline-flex flex-row items-center justify-center border rounded-full font-semibold whitespace-nowrap STButton_black-secondary__xIxs1 bg-white text-black border-secondary-button-border dark|bg-transparent dark|text-white hover|!bg-light-grey-6 dark|hover|!bg-dark-grey-5 p-2\" role=\"button\" tabindex=\"0\" type=\"button\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\" href=\"https:\/\/news.google.com\/publications\/CAAqKQgKIiNDQklTRkFnTWFoQUtEbk4wYjJOcmRIZHBkSE11WTI5dEtBQVAB\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Follow on Google News\" src=\"https:\/\/chunks-prd.stocktwits-cdn.com\/_next\/static\/media\/google-news-icon.d9c2bfd1.svg\"\/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Subscribe to Chart Art<\/p>\n<p>The best trade ideas and analysis from the Stocktwits community. Delivered daily by 8 pm ET.<\/p>\n<p><a rel=\"noopener nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/stocktwits.com\/about-newsroom\/\" class=\"NewsArticle_editorialLink__1BMFs hover|text-blue-ada underline w-full text-base\">Read about our editorial guidelines and ethics policy<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Virginia Retirement System disclosed SLS and IBRX stakes worth nearly $909,000 combined. The $124 billion fund ranks as&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":608982,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[72,176,257930,61,140113,257934,60,174,175,257932,257933,257929,257931],"class_list":["post-608981","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-personal-finance","tag-business","tag-finance","tag-ibrx-stock","tag-ie","tag-immunitybio","tag-immunitybio-anktiva","tag-ireland","tag-personal-finance","tag-personalfinance","tag-sellas-life-sciences","tag-sellas-regal-phase-3-trial","tag-sls-stock","tag-virginia-retirement-system"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/608981","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=608981"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/608981\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/608982"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=608981"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=608981"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=608981"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}