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Nektar's Lead Drugs Drive Growth, Partner Reliance a Woe
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On Sep 26, 2017, we issued an updated report on Nektar Therapeutics (NKTR - Free Report) , a biopharmaceutical company, focused on developing treatments, utilizing PEGylation and advanced polymer conjugate technology platforms.
The company’s portfolio comprises two drugs — Movantik for opioid-induced constipation (OIC) and Adynovate for treating hemophilia A. Both drugs are showing impressive performance.
Nektar shares a global license agreement with AstraZeneca (AZN - Free Report) under which, the latter was granted worldwide, exclusive, rights to develop, market and sell for Movantik as well as fixed-dose combination products.
The company also has a licensing, collaboration and manufacturing contract with Shire plc for Adynovate. It receives royalties and sales milestones related to both the drugs. These licensing agreements are expected to provide regular funds to the company.
Also, Nektar has made a significant progress with lead candidate, Onzeald (formerly known as NKTR-102), currently under accelerated assessment in the EU for treating adults with advanced breast cancer as well as brain metastases. A response is anticipated soon.
Nektar has also initiated a randomized phase III confirmatory study (ATTAIN) on Onzeald compared with the single-agent chemotherapy of physician’s choice. The trial is being conducted on patients with advanced breast cancer, who shortly complain of brain metastases. Positive results from this evaluation could support a regulatory filing in the United States.
The company is further developing several other candidates across important therapeutic areas including oncology, pain, anti-infectives and immunology. Interesting ones include NKTR-181 (phase III – chronic pain), NKTR-214 (phase I/II – solid tumor) and NKTR-358 (phase I-autoimmune disease).
We remind investors that in July, Nektar announced positive top-line results from an oral human abuse potential (HAP) study on NKTR-181 in order to assess the abuse potential compared with oxycodone. Notably, the FDA granted a Fast Track designation to the NKTR-181 development program.
Successful development and commercialization of these candidates will in turn drive the company’s top line, considering the lucrative markets they target.
Importantly, Nektar entered into a co-development deal with Eli Lilly and Company (LLY - Free Report) for NKTR-358 earlier in July. Pursuant to this agreement, Nektar will be responsible for completing the ongoing phase I study on the candidate. However, going forward with the phase II study on the same, Lilly will be capturing 75% of the total costs which should lower Nektar’s development expenses on NKTR-358.
However, Nektar’s proprietary market products as well as its underdeveloped candidates are subject to stiff competition from various other pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies.
The company is expected to face intense rivalry in the pain market with several manufacturers developing pain therapies. Competitors include Collegium Pharmaceutical’s Xtampza and Teva Pharmaceutical’s naproxen to name a few. Also, players in PEGylation and polymer conjugate chemistry technology space are Biogen (BIIB), Savient Pharmaceuticals, Dr. Reddy’s and Novo Nordisk among others.
Nektar’s heavy reliance on partners for revenues still remains a huge concern, since partnership-related setbacks may seriously weigh on the company.
4 Stocks to Watch after the Massive Equifax Hack
Cybersecurity stocks spiked on recent news of a data breach affecting 143 million Americans. But which stocks are the best buy candidates right now? And what does the future hold for the cybersecurity industry?
Equifax is just the most recent victim. Computer hacking and identity theft are more common than ever. Zacks has just released Cybersecurity! An Investor’s Guide to inform Zacks.com readers about this $170 billion/year space. More importantly, it highlights 4 cybersecurity picks with strong profit potential.
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Nektar's Lead Drugs Drive Growth, Partner Reliance a Woe
On Sep 26, 2017, we issued an updated report on Nektar Therapeutics (NKTR - Free Report) , a biopharmaceutical company, focused on developing treatments, utilizing PEGylation and advanced polymer conjugate technology platforms.
The company’s portfolio comprises two drugs — Movantik for opioid-induced constipation (OIC) and Adynovate for treating hemophilia A. Both drugs are showing impressive performance.
Nektar shares a global license agreement with AstraZeneca (AZN - Free Report) under which, the latter was granted worldwide, exclusive, rights to develop, market and sell for Movantik as well as fixed-dose combination products.
The company also has a licensing, collaboration and manufacturing contract with Shire plc for Adynovate. It receives royalties and sales milestones related to both the drugs. These licensing agreements are expected to provide regular funds to the company.
Also, Nektar has made a significant progress with lead candidate, Onzeald (formerly known as NKTR-102), currently under accelerated assessment in the EU for treating adults with advanced breast cancer as well as brain metastases. A response is anticipated soon.
Nektar has also initiated a randomized phase III confirmatory study (ATTAIN) on Onzeald compared with the single-agent chemotherapy of physician’s choice. The trial is being conducted on patients with advanced breast cancer, who shortly complain of brain metastases. Positive results from this evaluation could support a regulatory filing in the United States.
The company is further developing several other candidates across important therapeutic areas including oncology, pain, anti-infectives and immunology. Interesting ones include NKTR-181 (phase III – chronic pain), NKTR-214 (phase I/II – solid tumor) and NKTR-358 (phase I-autoimmune disease).
We remind investors that in July, Nektar announced positive top-line results from an oral human abuse potential (HAP) study on NKTR-181 in order to assess the abuse potential compared with oxycodone. Notably, the FDA granted a Fast Track designation to the NKTR-181 development program.
Successful development and commercialization of these candidates will in turn drive the company’s top line, considering the lucrative markets they target.
Importantly, Nektar entered into a co-development deal with Eli Lilly and Company (LLY - Free Report) for NKTR-358 earlier in July. Pursuant to this agreement, Nektar will be responsible for completing the ongoing phase I study on the candidate. However, going forward with the phase II study on the same, Lilly will be capturing 75% of the total costs which should lower Nektar’s development expenses on NKTR-358.
However, Nektar’s proprietary market products as well as its underdeveloped candidates are subject to stiff competition from various other pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies.
The company is expected to face intense rivalry in the pain market with several manufacturers developing pain therapies. Competitors include Collegium Pharmaceutical’s Xtampza and Teva Pharmaceutical’s naproxen to name a few. Also, players in PEGylation and polymer conjugate chemistry technology space are Biogen (BIIB), Savient Pharmaceuticals, Dr. Reddy’s and Novo Nordisk among others.
Nektar’s heavy reliance on partners for revenues still remains a huge concern, since partnership-related setbacks may seriously weigh on the company.
4 Stocks to Watch after the Massive Equifax Hack
Cybersecurity stocks spiked on recent news of a data breach affecting 143 million Americans. But which stocks are the best buy candidates right now? And what does the future hold for the cybersecurity industry?
Equifax is just the most recent victim. Computer hacking and identity theft are more common than ever. Zacks has just released Cybersecurity! An Investor’s Guide to inform Zacks.com readers about this $170 billion/year space. More importantly, it highlights 4 cybersecurity picks with strong profit potential.
Get the new Investing Guide now>>