Summary:
NKTR-214 is a PEGylated version of IL-2 designed to selectively activate tumoricidal T cells and NK cells instead of suppressive regulatory T cells
NKTR-214 appears most effective in combination with other immuno-oncology drugs and is being studied in clinical trials with PD-1 inhibitors
Nektar is giving an oral presentation of updated PIVOT-02 trial results for NKTR-214 at the Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer (SITC) Meeting on November 11th
Investment Thesis:
There are a lot of exciting events happening now and throughout next year for Nektar Therapeutics (NKTR). For example, NKTR will be providing an update on its Phase 1/2b trial with its lead immuno-oncology asset, NKTR-214, this weekend. Investors were looking forward to data that was revealed this past June at ASCO, but due to the small patient numbers observed at early timepoints of treatment, the data were not strongly suggestive and the market was not very responsive. The update this Saturday at SITC could be a catalyst for NKTR’s stock price if the data convincingly show that NKTR-214 is effective based on preliminary overall response rate (ORR) results, even though they are from the early stages of a Phase 1b/2 trial.
Company Overview:
Nektar Therapeutics (NASDAQ: NKTR) is a research, clinical, and commercial-stage biopharmaceutical company with many drugs in its pipeline. In the US, NKTR has partnered with AstraZeneca to sell Movantik to treat opioid-induced constipation in adults with chronic, non-cancer pain and Shire (formerly Baxalta) to sell Adynovate, a treatment for hemophilia A. For its Phase 3 assets, it has partnered with Bayer (NASDAQ: BAYN) for non-cystic fibrosis bronchiectasis treatment and Halozyme (NASDAQ: HALO) for pancreatic cancer. When looking at its wholly owned products, NKTR has a drug candidate for the treatment of moderate to severe chronic lower back pain (NKTR-181) that has drawn much attention because...