Nektar Starts Phase 3 Rezpegaldesleukin Trials
Cash and investments in marketable securities reached $1,023.4 million after an April equity raise, as the company opened two global registrational atopic dermatitis studies.
Nektar Therapeutics (NKTR), a clinical-stage biotechnology company developing immunology therapies, initiated the first two global registrational Phase 3 ZENITH AD trials of rezpegaldesleukin in moderate-to-severe atopic dermatitis in July 2026.
The ZENITH AD program will include three randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled studies. ZENITH AD-1 and ZENITH AD-2 will enroll patients who have not received biologic or systemic JAK inhibitor therapy; ZENITH AD-3 will enroll patients with prior biologic and/or systemic JAK inhibitor experience. President and Chief Executive Officer Howard W. Robin said Nektar plans a single registrational Phase 3 study in alopecia areata in early 2027 and that the Phase 3 program establishes a path to the first BLA submission for rezpegaldesleukin in 2029.
Cash and investments in marketable securities were $1,023.4 million on June 30, 2026, compared with $245.8 million on December 31, 2025. In April 2026, the company completed an underwritten public offering that produced $373.8 million of gross proceeds. Robin said the cash runway extends into the third quarter of 2028, past initial Phase 3 data readouts expected in mid-2028.
Revenue in the second quarter of 2026 was $10.1 million, down from $11.2 million a year earlier. All revenue was non-cash royalty income related to the sales of future royalties. Weighted average shares used in basic and diluted net loss per share were 33.1 million, versus 14.1 million a year earlier, reflecting the April equity raise.
Total operating costs and expenses were $52.5 million, up from $47.4 million a year earlier. Research and development expense was $39.1 million, up from $29.9 million a year earlier. The increase reflected the commencement of activities to support the Phase 3 ZENITH AD program and manufacturing associated with rezpegaldesleukin. General and administrative expense was $12.8 million, down from $17.1 million a year earlier, primarily due to lower legal expenses.
Net loss was $40.6 million, or $1.23 a share, compared with a net loss of $41.6 million, or $2.95 a share, a year earlier. The non-cash loss from the equity method investment in Gannet BioChem was $0.3 million.
In April 2026, Nektar also announced positive 52-week topline results from the 16-week blinded treatment extension of the Phase 2b REZOLVE-AA study, which demonstrated deepening of responses to rezpegaldesleukin in patients with severe-to-very-severe alopecia areata with continued twice-monthly dosing. The company scheduled oral presentations of REZOLVE-AD maintenance data and 52-week REZOLVE-AA results at the 2026 European Academy of Dermatology and Venereology Congress on October 1.
Rezpegaldesleukin is a novel regulatory T cell stimulator being evaluated in atopic dermatitis, alopecia areata, and Type 1 diabetes mellitus. The pipeline also includes preclinical TNFR2 antibody and bispecific programs NKTR-0165 and NKTR-0166, and a modified hematopoietic colony stimulating factor protein, NKTR-422.