Nektar Therapeutics (Nektar) is an American

biopharmaceutical A biopharmaceutical, also known as a biological medical product, or biologic, is any pharmaceutical drug product manufactured in, extracted from, or semisynthesized from biological sources. Different from totally synthesized pharmaceuticals, t ...

company. The company was founded in 1990 and is based in

San Francisco, California San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17th ...

. The company develops new drug candidates by applying its proprietary PEGylation and advanced polymer conjugate technologies to modify chemical structure of substances. It is a technology supplier to a number of pharmaceutical companies including Affymax,

Amgen Amgen Inc. (formerly Applied Molecular Genetics Inc.) is an American multinational biopharmaceutical company headquartered in Thousand Oaks, California. One of the world's largest independent biotechnology companies, Amgen was established in T ...

Merck Merck refers primarily to the German Merck family and three companies founded by the family, including: * the Merck Group, a German chemical, pharmaceutical and life sciences company founded in 1668 ** Merck Serono (known as EMD Serono in the Unite ...

Pfizer Pfizer Inc. ( ) is an American multinational pharmaceutical and biotechnology corporation headquartered on 42nd Street in Manhattan, New York City. The company was established in 1849 in New York by two German entrepreneurs, Charles Pfizer ...

and UCB Pharma, etc. The company developed the world's first inhalable non-injectable insulin, Exubera, which was awarded as the bronze award by

Wall Street Journal ''The Wall Street Journal'' is an American business-focused, international daily newspaper based in New York City, with international editions also available in Chinese and Japanese. The ''Journal'', along with its Asian editions, is published ...

for its technological breakthrough.

Background

The company is engaged in developing a proprietary pipeline of drug candidates for several therapeutic areas including

oncology Oncology is a branch of medicine that deals with the study, treatment, diagnosis and prevention of cancer. A medical professional who practices oncology is an ''oncologist''. The name's etymological origin is the Greek word ὄγκος (''� ...

, pain, anti-infectives,

anti-viral Antiviral drugs are a class of medication used for treating viral infections. Most antivirals target specific viruses, while a broad-spectrum antiviral is effective against a wide range of viruses. Unlike most antibiotics, antiviral drugs do ...

and

immunology Immunology is a branch of medicineImmunology for Medical Students, Roderick Nairn, Matthew Helbert, Mosby, 2007 and biology that covers the medical study of immune systems in humans, animals, plants and sapient species. In such we can see the ...

. The company's research and development involve in small molecule and biologic drug candidates. Its drug candidate base consists of

naloxegol Naloxegol (INN; PEGylated naloxol; trade names Movantik and Moventig) is a peripherally acting μ-opioid receptor antagonist developed by AstraZeneca, licensed from Nektar Therapeutics, for the treatment of opioid-induced constipation. It was a ...

(Movantik), a Phase III oral opioid antagonist, etirinotecan pegol, a topoisomerase inhibitor under Phase III clinical study as of 2012, NKTR 061, NKTR-181, NKTR-214, etc. In 2013, the company was assigned a patent which was developed by the company and other four co-inventors. The products of the company is served as a supplement to improve the pharmacokinetics,

pharmacodynamics Pharmacodynamics (PD) is the study of the biochemical and physiologic effects of drugs (especially pharmaceutical drugs). The effects can include those manifested within animals (including humans), microorganisms, or combinations of organisms ...

, half-life, bioavailability and other areas of drugs for the patients worldwide. As of March 2014, the company had an market capitalization of $1.7 billion with an enterprise value of $1.67 billion. As of July 15, 2019, the company had a market cap of $5.88 Billion.

Pipeline

Etirinotecan pegol was in the phase III BEACON trial as well as in the

I-SPY2 In an adaptive design of a clinical trial, the parameters and conduct of the trial for a candidate approved drug, drug or vaccine may be changed based on an interim analysis. Adaptive design typically involves advanced statistics to interpret a cl ...

adaptive clinical trial In an adaptive design of a clinical trial, the parameters and conduct of the trial for a candidate drug or vaccine may be changed based on an interim analysis. Adaptive design typically involves advanced statistics to interpret a clinical trial e ...

for breast cancer in 2016. The European Medicines Agency refused a marketing authorisation in 2017. Bempegaldesleukin (NKTR-214) is a CD122-biased immune-stimulatory cytokine, Phase I results were announced in November 2016. It is now in a phase 2 trial in combination with

nivolumab Nivolumab, sold under the brand name Opdivo, is a medication used to treat a number of types of cancer. This includes melanoma, lung cancer, malignant pleural mesothelioma, renal cell carcinoma, Hodgkin lymphoma, head and neck cancer, urotheli ...

for various advanced cancers.

References

External links

* {{Authority control Biotechnology companies of the United States Pharmaceutical companies of the United States Pharmaceutical companies established in 1990 Biotechnology companies established in 1990 Companies listed on the Nasdaq 1994 initial public offerings Companies based in San Francisco Health care companies based in California Biopharmaceutical companies