ImmunityBio said two heavily pre-treated patients with Waldenstrom macroglobulinemia achieved complete responses after receiving its investigational CD19 CAR-NK cell therapy in the Phase I QUILT-106 study. One patient responded to the single-agent regimen, while the second reached remission after the addition of rituximab; the latter response has been sustained for six months. The off-the-shelf natural-killer-cell product was administered in an outpatient setting and produced no significant toxicities, the company added. In a separate cell-therapy milestone, South Korea’s Ministry of Food and Drug Safety approved Gilead Sciences’ Yescarta, a CD19-targeted CAR-T therapy, for adults with relapsed or refractory diffuse large B-cell lymphoma and for primary mediastinal B-cell lymphoma. Yescarta becomes the second CAR-T product cleared under the country’s Advanced Regenerative Bio Act and expands treatment options in a market where Novartis’ Kymriah had been the only reimbursed therapy. The two announcements underscore accelerating progress in CD19-directed cell therapies across different platforms—engineered T cells and natural-killer cells—aimed at hard-to-treat B-cell lymphomas. While Yescarta is already a commercial product generating $1.6 billion in global revenue in 2024, ImmunityBio’s CAR-NK program remains in early trials, with additional enrollment under way to confirm durability and safety.