Patrick Soon-Shiong (born July 29, 1952) is a South African and American businessman, investor, medical researcher, and transplant surgeon.

[2][23] In early 2016, Soon-Shiong launched the National Immunotherapy Coalition to encourage rival pharmaceutical companies to work together to test combinations of cancer-fighting drugs.

[24] He has also met with Joe Biden to discuss approaches to fighting cancer, including conducting genomic sequencing of 100,000 patients to create a large database of potential genetic factors.

[25] In January 2017, as announced by press secretary Sean Spicer, then President-elect Donald Trump met with Soon-Shiong at his Bedminster, New Jersey, estate to discuss national medical priorities.

[29] By summer 2021, ImmunityBio had developed a T cell-inducing universal COVID-19 vaccine booster shot that had reached Phase III trials in his native South Africa, with a stated goal of completely blocking transmission and stemming an endemic tide of COVID-19 variants.

[30] In December 2021, Soon-Shiong shared pre-clinical results of giving two different vaccine platforms (heterologous) and showed beneficial T cell levels using an adenovirus and mRNA technology.

[33] In February 2022, Soon-Shiong announced results from ImmunityBio regarding a clinical trial in non-muscle invasive bladder cancer (NMIBC) with a 24.1 median duration and 71% complete remission.

[38] Soon-Shiong went on to found NantWorks in September 2011, whose mission was "to converge ultra-low power semiconductor technology, supercomputing, high performance, secure advanced networks and augmented intelligence to transform how we work, play, and live.

[44] In 2015, Soon-Shiong's NantPharma purchased the drug Cynviloq from Sorrento Therapeutics for $90 million, including more than $1 billion in compensation for reaching regulatory and sales milestones[45] Soon-Shiong did not push forward with FDA approval as the agreement dictated, and instead allowed critical patents and deadlines to lapse, presumably due to his financial interest in another drug that would compete with Cynviloq.

This "catch and kill" method of eliminating competition follows a pattern of questionable business practices by Soon-Shiong,[46] and claims of "looting" by the celebrity actress and musician Cher.

[50] In April 2016, the Los Angeles Times reported that Soon-Shiong received a pay package in 2015 from NantKwest worth almost $148 million, making him one of the highest paid CEOs.

[55] In early 2021, Soon-Shiong merged a publicly traded company NantKwest (NASDAQ: NK) with a privately held entity ImmunityBio (formerly NantCell).

[68] A day later, TheWrap reported that the Los Angeles Times editorial board had planned a series of articles tentatively titled "The Case Against Trump" which was killed by Soon-Shiong.

The announcement came after Soon-Shiong expressed his desire to include more conservative voices in the paper's opinion section, following Donald Trump's victory in the 2024 presidential election.

The decision triggered a wave of subscription cancellations, staff anger, and high-profile resignations, including Robert Greene and Harry Litman.

"[74][75][76] In January 2025, Soon-Shiong was accused of diverting the meaning of an Los Angeles Times op-ed which opposed the confirmation of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as Health and Human Services Secretary.

[77] One of the removed excerpts argued that Kennedy Jr. would "inflict preventable death on [millions of Americans]" due to his "egomaniacal disregard for scientific evidence".

The Foundation also paid some employees from Soon-Shiong's companies, which is a potentially inappropriate use of charitable funds to cover unrelated business overhead.

[27] A subsequent audit report by the Utah government found that the university had failed to follow the state's procurement laws requiring a competitive bidding process for public institutions.

[27] According to Politico, Soon-Shiong twice met privately with Donald Trump during his 2016–2017 presidential transition in an unsuccessful attempt to obtain a position in the administration.

[27] In an interview with the Daily Wire in 2024, Soon-Shiong praised the nomination of several individuals to lead the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services in the second Trump administration, including Marty Makary, Mehmet Oz, and activist attorney Robert Kennedy Jr..[81] Soon-Shiong met with Kennedy's wife Cheryl Hines and actor/comedian Rob Schneider to discuss creating a talk show which Schneider envisioned as being a conservative version of The View.